âWhoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.â (Proverbs 17:9)
âSome cover-ups are lies and some cover-ups are love. It depends on whoâs doing the covering.
When a guilty party âcoversâ his own offense, it is a lie. The only love involved is prideful self-love. But whenâŚthe innocent (the offended party or an observing party) âcoversâ the offense of an offender in order to preserve friendship, it is love â the kind of love that âbears all thingsâ (1 Corinthians 13:7).
God, the offended party, justly covered the penalty of our offenses on the cross so that he could righteously âcast all our sins into the depths of the seaâ (Micah 7:19) and âremember [our] sins no moreâ (Hebrews 8:12).
And to us, Jesus says, âThis is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved youâ (John 15:12).
So seek to love like Jesus today. Love in a way that few will ever know about. Cover an offense.â
~Jon Bloom
âWe must cover the failings of our neighbor with the mantle of charity, attributing them to ignorance or inadvertence.â
~St. Paul of the Cross