“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)
Love is not blind. There are things which love chooses not to see. To see is to be stirred to anger. Love is slow to wrath. (1 Cor. 13:4) To that end, it must cover a multitude of sins.
But what about justice? Vengeance belongs to God. He will repay. We are not called to smite the cheek of those who have struck us. If one sues to take away our shirt, we are to give it to him, along with our coat. How fair is that we ask? Calvary was not fair. There the just died for the unjust. The innocent paid for the crimes of the guilty.
If we are to be made conformable to the death of Christ, we must also “take wrong.” The church at Corinth excelled in spiritual gifts; but they were not a model of Christlike love. Paul reproved them sharply: “Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?” (1 Cor. 6:7)
What really wins people? The wrath of man (and the wrath of God) turns us off. Signs and wonders may fail. But love never fails. The cross of Christ is the magnet by which all men come to God. Each of us who are won have experienced the love of God that saw past our fault to our need. We were loved at our worst.
Love others as He has loved you. Receive from them what you don’t deserve. Give to them what they don’t deserve.