Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9)
Some cover-ups are lies and some cover-ups are love. It depends on who’s doing the covering.
Covering with Lies and Covering with Love
When President Richard Nixon and his aides attempted to cover up the offense of the June 17, 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate Complex by Republican Party operatives, they were not seeking love. Why? Because they, the offending party (the Republicans), were trying to cover their own offense against the offended party (the Democrats).
When a guilty party “covers” his own offense, it is a lie. The only love involved is prideful self-love. But when justice and ethics don’t demand that a matter be “repeated” (such as sexual or other kinds of heinous abuse) and the innocent (the offended party or an observing party) “covers” the offense of an offender in order to preserve friendship, it is love — the kind of love that “bears all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).
Why We Know of So Few Love-Covered Offenses
Every day we hear stories of offenders who have tried to cover their own offenses with lies. And every day we hear (sometimes from our own lips) people repeating a matter. We call this gossip and it fuels whole media industries. All around us are shattered relationships that exploded in the “repeating.”
But how many examples can you think of where a friendship was preserved because someone did not repeat — gossip about — an offense? Not many, I’ll wager. Why is this so rare?
While it’s true that lovingly covering a matter is rarer in our sinful world than repeating a matter, this is not the only reason we know so few examples of covering. A significant reason is that by definition covering hides others’ offenses from our view and therefore even the covering is concealed from our view. We don’t know about offenses or their covering because loving people haven’t talked about them.
A Gospel-like Love
The kind of love that “covers a multitude of sins” is a costly love (1 Peter 4:8). It is a humble love that “looks not only to [our] own interests but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).
The kind of love that “covers a multitude of sins” is costly love.
This love, even when it is exercised by unbelievers, is a gospel-like love because it is a reflection of…Continue Reading…@ https://www.desiringgod.org
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People Often Ask These Questions:
- How do I fulfil my destiny? Our destiny is bound up in our response to the Gospel. “Are you saved or lost?” That is the question above all questions. The declaration of the Gospel is “Jesus saves.” He saves from wrath, judgment, hell, bondage, the devil, and darkness. He saves us from dying in our sins. …People insure their houses and yet do not insure their eternal future. Yet we know that salvation offers so much more. Who else offers such insurance but Jesus?
- Why does God allow suffering? You could just as well ask the National Secretary of Transportation why he allows accidents on the highways. No doubt he would take exception to your accusation and point to the rules of the road. “Every time a law is broken, an accident and suffering might occur,” he would reply. People suffer chiefly for one reason—they are ignoring God’s rulebook, the Bible, and everything goes wrong. Our Creator knows exactly how He has made us and what will harm us. Consequently, out of a caring, protective heart, He says, “You shall not … ” The “you shall nots” are not edicts designed to spoil our fun, but rather they are the manufacturer’s handling instructions. God wisely knows that our psyche is unable to handle sin. Actually, it is crushed and tormented by misdeeds. It is always wise to read the instruction manual before using a new appliance. People worry about breaking a new DVD player or a new computer, but strangely, they have no worries about destroying their own spirits and souls with the poison of sin.
Would You Like To Give OR Re-Dedicate Your Life To JESUS CHRIST, But You Don’t Know HOW?
Please READOUT LOUD below Prayer and contact us @ circ.community@emoltem.com for more information.
“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior and to yield back the life given to me by You, back to You. Take Control of my life Lord, and let only your will be done in my life from now on. Amen.”
