Hatred stirs up conflict,
but love covers over all wrongs.
Summary: Even though this proverb seems to be stating the obvious, it contains an amazing truth. The love that covers all wrongs is the most powerful force in the universe.
Some things seem so obvious that, as the saying goes, “it goes without saying.” Hatred and conflict seem to go together. Love, the agapé kind of love, is the antidote to conflict. This is not rocket science.
Even though these things seem obvious, there is still a reason for stating them. Once stated, the obvious takes on a corporeal form. There is something to point to and say, “See! This is what I was talking about.”
Now that I have said all that, I am not sure what else there is to talk about…
🙂
Okay, there is one little thing. Let’s talk about love.
How does love cover over all wrongs? The answer to this is in the nature of love and the object of love.
Our default object of love when we are born is ourselves. Whatever does not conform to what we want, is hated. Babies, for example, hate to be hungry. (Truth be told, I still hate to be hungry!) When they are hungry and if nobody is feeding them, there is conflict. (Whaaaaa!! Whaaaaaa!!)
The thing about babies is that they are not considered a threat. It is easy for us big people to be magnanimous in our love toward the little ones. However, after twenty years go by the little ones are not so little. If they want to steal your purse or hijack your car, they can be threatening. It is harder to love in those circumstances.
Unless we know God.
God tells us to love him above all else (Matthew 22: 37). Why? Well, for a lot of reasons. Simply put, God is the source of our life, the source of all that is good, and the person we will want to be hanging out with for all eternity. He is important. He is the most important person in all of Creation.
Another reason that it is good to love God is that loving God means we want to please him. Pleasing God is a simple matter of obeying his rules. His rules, simply put, are the railings on the stairway of life. They are there to keep us from hurting ourselves.
The second Great Commandment is simple: Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22: 39). It is this command that speaks to the Proverb for today.
The nature of fallen man is to love ourselves above all else. Everything and everyone else is secondary to our own needs and wants. Like the baby crying for food, our instinct is to focus only on what we want.
God does not command us to love others more than ourselves. That is what Jesus did (John 15:13). We are only tasked with loving others as ourselves. Whatever we want or need for ourselves, loving others recognizes that the “others” want and need the same things. This paradigm shift is from ALL ABOUT ME to ALL ABOUT US. The effect is nothing short of earth-shattering.
The reason love covers over all wrongs is that all of us have been wrong. When we are wrong, we want and need a second chance. We need forgiveness. If we love others as we love ourselves, every wrong we would forgive ourselves for is one that we will forgive in others.
Application: To effectively love others, we need to be aware of how we love ourselves.
Food for Thought: How do we become more self-aware so that we can love others as we love ourselves?
How do we become more self-aware so that we can love others as we love ourselves?
Be mindful of what you do and say:
1 Timothy 4:16 “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
Be mindful of why you do the things you do.
Proverbs 21:2 “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.”
Be mindful of the thoughts that you entertain.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Be mindful of that “need” to be right.
Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Be mindful that what you do either glorifies you or God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Chris,
I like the term “mindful.” It means to be conscious or aware of something. The “somethings” you point out are significant and very appropriate. Thank you! 🙂
Good way of putting it
Awesome
🙂
How do we become more self-aware so that we can love others as we love ourselves?
Would it be wrong to say that if we are to look at ourselves and understand that I am nothing, to place myself lesser than a worm, to serve others more than oneself, to become less, not being a distraction from Jesus and His faithful followers, or basically love ourselves less and see others as more worthy?
Tim,
One of the things I enjoy most about this blog are the comments that you and others share. You have taken a different approach than the one I had in mind, and I like your approach very much. As I understand your words, being self-aware is an awareness of ourself as seen from God’s point of view. That is humbling! That awareness drives us to be more Christ-like.
Well said! ⭐
Soooo True!!!
I guess it is good then Jim thanks.
Great devotion and comments. I love Chris’s being mindful list.
I would add being mindful of the cross which truly covered all wrongs. Colossians 2: 13 -15. By modeling His love we also can forgive others with a love that covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4: 8.
Be mindful of the cross for ourselves. Be mindful of the cross for others and their need to know Jesus.
Rich,
Thank you for reminding us of the cross. In that ancient frame of wood, we have the ultimate example of love.
Great stuff, AS ALWAYS!
04-22-2022, Proverbs 10:12, How do we become more self-aware so that we can love others as we love ourselves?
Self-awareness, essentially, it is a psychological state in which oneself becomes the focus of their attention. We are born into a physical world where everything is evaluated by human, cultural standards and our number one priority is for US. To love others as we love ourselves requires the Spiritual power of God, conviction by the Holy Spirit.
John 16:8-11
The Bible tells us, every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart, and that we must humble ourselves if we are to God allow Him to lift us up. This is our first step to becoming spiritually self-aware. Jesus Himself tells us, He could do nothing by His own power, He judged all things not according to His will, but by the will of the Father who had sent Him, therefore His judgement is just.
Proverbs 21:2, James 4:10, John 5:30
We are called to put off your old self, which belongs to our former manner of life and is fully corrupt with deceitful desires. We are to be renewed in the Spirit of our minds. To put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. With Christ is in us, our body is dead because of sin, yet we live as spiritually righteous by the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls us to take His yoke upon us, to learn from Him; for He is meek and lowly in heart: and we will find rest for our souls. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.
Ephesians 4:22-24, Romans 8:10, Matthew 11:29-30
We are called to live in freedom; not freedom to indulge our flesh, but to love serve one another. Our Lord is good and upright, He will teach us each the way to righteousness. The humble He will guide in judgment: and teach His way. We are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and allow Him to exalt all at the proper time. Always remembering, anyone desiring to be first, must make himself last of all, and servant of all.
Galatians 5:13, Psalm 25:8-9, 1 Peter 5:6, Mark 9:35
Ron,
Thank you for the deep dive into this topic. Our dependance on the spiritual power of God to overcome our self-interest and love others is an important point. Everything else flows from that.
Much appreciated!