Sunday Scripture ~ 1 Peter 4:8

Posted on by Michele Morin

“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.”  (1 Peter 4:8 NKJV)

Fervent love is a choice, and it comes with effort. The word fervent means “to be stretched,” and has also been used to describe a runner, straining toward a finish line.

Some versions render the thought as a command to love earnestly. Earnest love endures with patience and forgives the unforgivable. It is an echo of the love we receive from God. In the Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd Jones calls it God’s “never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.”

Practicing this kind of love for one another is really the only way for us to be “the church.” This Sunday, as we prepare to gather for worship, let’s ask God to give us fervent love for one another. Anchored in the bedrock of our awareness of how much we have been forgiven, let’s strain to pass on that over-the-top love to others.

Grateful for God’s love and forgiveness,

Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four sons, four daughters-in-love, and six adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

13 thoughts on “Sunday Scripture ~ 1 Peter 4:8”

  1. Fervent love. Not casual or convenient. Not if I feel like it or if they haven’t snubbed me.

    A lavish affection like Christ has poured out on each of us.

    Amen, Michele. Amen.

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  3. I’ve always heard of the word fervent defined as burning, glowing, zealous. In other words, “with a white hot passion.” Not only are we to love each other in that way but also we are to pray fervently.

    I fall short – way short – in these areas. I need Christ to help me love fervently, to pray fervently.

    I love your closing – let’s ask for help in loving over-the-top!

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  4. I love reading different versions of the same verse. It makes the scripture deeper for me and helps me to understand it in a more complex way.

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