Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1Pe 4:8 NIV)

The words translated here with “love each other deeply” are literally translated “strained and stretched.” The apostle admonishes us Christians to really put an effort into loving each other deeply and especially in covering up even multitudes of sins. That gives us quite something to ponder on as well as to examine ourselves. Most of us Christians are quite good at bearing our own wrongdoings, faults and sins and even if we carry them around with us for a life-time we don’t seriously doubt that they will hinder our salvation really. Yet to bear the sins of others is not so easy for most of us. Some find it outright hard and even too much of a stretch. Whereas they take God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness for themselves for granted and as a matter of course on a daily and regular basis, yet others are judged much more stringently and not graciously at all. Instead of covering up those sins as the apostles admonishes us to do, we take leave of sinners and leave them to their own devices. We easily condemn them even before the Church has excommunicated them. That is wrong and we should guard against such a tendency towards self-righteousness. It has no place in the Church, nor in the congregation or in our personal lives. That is the opposite of what the apostles calls for here when he admonishes us to practice loving each other deeply by covering up even a multitude of sins. Yes, it’s the very opposite to the way our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ went about things in life. He bore the sins of his disciples and even of all the world – without complaining, without giving up or even tiring of this burden.

O Lord Jesus Christ, you are merciful and gracious. Grant that we to become merciful and grant us a outstretched and dedicated love, which is strong and untiring to forgive seventy times seven times and does not loose hope for those, who repent of their sins and are ashamed of them too. O Lord cover up the multitude of our sins and let us rest in the peace of your forgiveness and joyfully awake in the morning through your grace and mercy. Amen.

Your comfort revives our heart and strengthens us to do the utmost as we are no longer afraid as your holy fire kills of all self-centredness. You carry us beyond ourselves. You can awaken daring heroes for your work, who carry on patiently, working in strong faith that you teach, grant and nurture. (Johannes Marx *1889)

This is a rather free translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Tuesday after the 6^th Sunday after Easter: Exaudi. It is found on Pg. 203 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and published in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.