We Christ-followers should be known for our love. Known for the way insults and offenses simply slide off of us. Known for our imperturbable friendship. Sadly more often than not we’re known for our bigotry, bias, judgment, and being easily offended.
Let’s take a moment and soak in the wisdom of the words from Proverbs 17:
Whoever promotes love covers over an offense,
but he who repeats the matter separates close friends. (NIV)
Or, put another way,
Whoever conceals an offense promotes love,
but whoever gossips about it separates friends. (HCSB)
Which are you going to operate as today? A love promoter or a friend separator?
Follow the leader. Take your cues from Jesus. He paid with his own life to silence Satan’s repetitions of our sins, casting them away beyond anyone’s reach, as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103).
Jesus’ primary act of love wasn’t his healing or his teaching; it was his covering of our offenses. In the same way, your ultimate act of love today will be the way you pass over the offenses that come against you.
Let’s learn how to let the small frustrations go and instead find joy in Christ. Let’s learn how to address the big issues honestly and then forgive them, covering them with grace for the sake of love, never bringing them up again. Let’s become the kind of people who others know they can entrust themselves to as close friends.
When that happens they can’t help but meet Jesus. Let’s be love promoters, not friend separators. In Jesus’ name.
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