“8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

‘To love the world to me’s no chore, my big problem’s the man next door.’NIV

Even more to the point, it might be the guy (or gal) in the next pew.

Biblical love is a muscular thing. It’s not for softies. It’s hard work. Loving involves forgiving, and it’s not easy. In fact, it’s impossible apart from God’s help.

We concluded yesterday by thinking about how we are called to community, but it’s not always easy to ‘do’ community. Yet we have significant opportunities to grow through its challenges.

Kierkegaard, writing about Peter, said: ’To love is to love the person one sees. As the apostle John reminds us: ‘’He who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.’’ (1 Jn.4:20)…Christ’s love for Peter was so boundless that in loving Peter he accomplished loving the person one sees…Christ did not break off his friendship with Peter, and then renew it again when Peter had become a different man. No, he preserved the friendship and in this way helped Peter to become another man. Do you think Peter would ever have been won again without such faithful love?’

PRAYER: Lord, none of us is yet the finished article. Please give us your love for one another – a love that endures.