“Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8
Recently, as I painted several rooms in my house, including the kitchen cabinets, this verse carried new meaning. I kept comparing the sins I was covering with my paint to my sins that Jesus covers with His blood.
What fascinates me is that the scars of the sins are still there, especially with the cabinets. Some are prominent enough that if you knew where they were you would easily see them. In other words, you need to be familiar enough with the cabinets to appreciate the scars.
That is how it is for us with God. He is familiar enough with us that He can appreciate the scars he has covered. Just as I could have just gotten new cabinets without scars, God could have created a new Adam and Eve and discarded the ones with scars. He did not. Instead, He redeemed what He created in Christ Jesus. I redeemed my cabinets.
This will not surprise you, but I look at my cabinets in a new way. My kitchen is fondly called the imperfect kitchen. It reminds me that I am an imperfect being whom God loves. An imperfect being whose sins and scars God has covered. He has not covered them to hide them. He has covered them because of the value He places on me. My cabinets had value. Rather than replace, I painted them so their value could be appreciated. Rather than replace me, God is drawing attention to my value.
I hope that you can celebrate the value you have to God. As you get dressed, imagine God clothing you with His love. He does not wish to hide that for which you are ashamed. Instead, He wants to draw out the beauty that is uniquely yours.
As you reflect on your scars, remember that Christ proudly displays the scars He received when He died on the cross for our sins (John 20:26-28). Scars can carry a beautiful story.
Mary studied Mechanical Engineering as an undergraduate student. While studying she traded semesters working at NASA in Houston, Texas. It was while working at NASA that she felt the tug on her heart that God had another plan for her life. Upon graduation, Mary proceeded to serve as a missionary for the next 11 years of her life; she served in Greece the last two years of her service. Upon returning from Greece, she pursued her Master's degree in Counseling, which led to a job with a major university. It was while working there that God did what God faithfully does, she found herself working as an engineer again as she managed major construction projects for the university. She also pursued her Master's degree in Engineering Management and her Professional Engineering License. Mary now on her ministry and writing. When Mary left missionary service it was her desire to return to fulltime ministry one day. She had her first outline for a book in 1989 (a book she has yet to write). Her first book was published in May, 2014 with the second quickly on its heels in December, 2014. She continues to write and is developing an evangelistic series of books centered around Jesus Christ. Her prayer is that her books will bless others' relationships with our Father God and His word.