Love Enables Us to Overlook a Multitiude of Sins

Some time ago when troubled by a particular situation, I was asking the Lord for understanding of why I was troubled. As I waited, the word "religion" came to mind. I remembered something that I've observed in the New Testament stories about Jesus. Whenever He would heal someone or there would be partying over His presence among the sinners, the religious people were unhappy. They couldn't look past the details of the law's requirements in order to celebrate the bigger and more important issues of forgiveness and joy and healing that Jesus' presence always brought to those who would receive Him.

I had a fresh glimpse into an aspect of religion: it majors on minors and is unable to overlook what it defines as 'lawless'. In his book, Repenting of Religion, Greg Boyd says that in religion, rules trump everything else.

In our proneness towards finding life from judging what's "right" and "wrong" (both in our own lives and those of others), we get easily sidetracked from loving and accepting others who are experiencing Jesus by critiquing whether a person's behavior is "right" or "wrong". Meanwhile Jesus, in His love and affection for the sinner, is able to overlook the smaller issues and celebrate the bigger issue of healing and freedom with the one He has touched. Love empowers us to overlook a multitude of sins.

In the particular situation referred to at the start of this post, there had been a breakthrough in the person's life, and the issue over which I was troubled was inconsequential in comparison. I was in danger of missing the Lord's joy over the person involved because of my concern over details of the "law". Because He opened my understanding, I was able to celebrate with Him and with the person...I'm grateful!