Love Covers Sin

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

1 Kings 15:25-34

LOVE COVERS SIN

25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 26 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. 27 Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar plotted against him, and he struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it. 28 Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and succeeded him as king. 29 As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam's whole family. He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all, according to the word of the LORD given through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite— 30 because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger. 31 As for the other events of Nadab's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 32 There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. 33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit.

NIV

Is there no one who does what is right in the eyes of the LORD? Hadad, son of Jeroboam, did all the same evil practices as his father. This was a case of like father, like son, and the LORD was not pleased because not only did Hadad do evil in the eyes of the LORD, but he caused all of Israel to commit sin. Then Baasha, son of Ahijah, killed Hadad, and although he had all the household, every member of the house of Jeroboam was destroyed because of the evil he had done in the eyes of the LORD. Baasha ended up doing the same evil in the eyes of the LORD. What is it with men in power, or is it the same for all men, including women? We know power corrupts, but what about all of us normal people who have no power in this world? Can we be corrupted like Jeroboam, Hadad, and Baasha were? Is there a difference between the corruption that is in the hearts of people that causes them to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, and us believers who fall short of his glory because of our humanity? None of us is without sin, even if we think that we don’t sin according to the lists we have developed. We are supposed to live in accordance with the two things Jesus told us. His list included loving the Lord with all our being and loving each other as we love ourselves. If we could just do those two commands, then we would fulfill all the law, the prophets, as well as all the epistles, in other words, all the word of God. There is more than one way to understand that phrase, love covers a multitude of sins, yet it carries the idea that if we love each other, we will overlook the faults in each other, in fact, not even keeping a record of any wrongs anyone does. If we love each other, we do not see imperfections in others, as if we were blind to them. This is covered within the attitude of kindness, one of the aspects of love. If we love, we will not harm anyone, as we would not intentionally harm ourselves. There may be many other aspects of love, but it does cover over all the imperfections of others. Loving God and others is doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord, just as when we do not love, that is doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. Let us learn that lesson from Jeroboam, Hadad, and Baasha so that we are not like them. Let us learn from Jesus, for he is gentle and humble of heart, and he has shown us what it means to love. Jesus taught us, and Peter repeated it, “Love covers sin”.