Love Shall Cover the Multitude of Sins

The other day I (Carlos) made a visit to the Medium Security Prison here in Barberton. I went along with a pastor that visits the prison very regularly. This time I didn’t have any books to give them, I was supposed to give them a message, but WHAT message?

After a lot of singing, praising and testimonies from the prisoners came my turn to speak. The pastor introduced me very positively to the audience, I came forth still not knowing what to say, but the moment I picked up the microphone and said the first words of greeting, the message came loud and clear to my heart, I was supposed to tell them about love: the greatest of these is love, 1st Corinthians 13.

Opening our Bibles in 1^st Corinthians 13, I started with the 1^st verse, pointing to the importance of real love. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, … And if I have prophetic powers, … and if I give away all that I have, … but have not love … I just make noise, I am nothing and I gain nothing.”

It seemed to be a new message to them, something that they didn’t seek much after or think about it. I didn’t’ judge them, it’s not in our human nature. Here they are in a tough environment, coming from a tough past, naturally they think that to show love it’s to show weakness.

But it’s not so. Love is the most powerful force on Earth. LOVE NEVER FAILS (1 Corinthians 13:8) It releases us from fear or resentment and bitterness which are the greatest enemies of real strength, success, faith and happiness. Love is also the force that brings others to Jesus, and it makes life worth living in any situation. God is Love, and to seek love is to seek Him.

I told them, sometimes things don’t go well, it seems that God doesn’t answer prayer, our faith goes somewhere else, our hope dies, but love doesn’t have to die, God remains, and our love for others is rekindled in the process bringing with it faith and hope again.

There were about 50 men in that room, and outside there were hundreds of them in the patio, seemingly indifferent to what was going on. But, are all of them really indifferent? Not if they see that these believers have some intangible power, happiness and freedom that nobody else can muster up at all no matter what they try.

That’s what caused me to dedicate my life entirely to missionary work, I told them. When I first met other young missionaries, they gave me to read some gospel tracks that I really liked, and they invited me to meet them in a certain coffee shop where they would gathered together everyday at 6 pm. Even then, I spied on them for 3 days in a row without being seen just to make sure they were not fake. And sure enough, they had what I was really looking for: real freedom and happiness, in other words, LOVE.

If our motive is love, people cannot but notice it and be attracted to it.

Long Live Love.