Love does not keep a record of things done wrong and love believes the best of others. Sandra Unger names how difficult it is to walk in these two aspects of agape love. She names how keeping a record of wrongs undermines love and provides insights into how we can move away from this all-too-common practice.
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Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs
• Sandra Unger
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In this sermon, Sandra Unger examines and applies Paul’s claim that love does not keep track of wrongs and that love trusts. She uses the analogy of closets to help us imagine how people often keep track of wrongs in relationships. Many of us store up critical thoughts about others in our mental closets, keeping records of their faults. Then we pull out the records that we have stored away and use this information to identify other’s short comings.
Sandra identifies four types of closets where we tend to store up these records. The first closet is for people in our lives. In the second closet, we store up our own wrongs, which results in shame. Then there is a closet for God, where we keep a list of things that we wanted God to do, but he did not. The fourth closet is the one where we think God keeps his lists of our wrongs.
The reality is that God does not have a closet of our wrongs. Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God does not think of us and our wrongs like we think of others. He delights in us, and his love lasts forever. God’s closet is full of joy and wonder at our existence. This raises the question about our closets that we have toward others. What if we cleaned out our closets and filled them with blessings instead of storing up records of wrongs? Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our wrongdoings from us.” God does not hold against us anything that we have done. This is the same kind of love that we are called to offer others. We have the ability to give this kind of love as we receive it.
Sandra offers four things that we can do to aim for a love that does not keep a record of wrongs. First, become aware of the closets that we have. Ask what is in them and how we use this information. Action is the second thing. Choose one closet and get to work. Third, accept accountability. We need help with this, which requires humility. No one can work at their closets alone. Acceptance is the fourth step. We must open ourselves to the love of God, which is the only way that we will learn to love together.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Judgment, Love, Relationships
Sermon Series: Wholehearted, Love Does
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The MuseCast: January 27
Focus Scripture:
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I Corinthians 13:5, 7
It [Love] does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. ... It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes.
