Let love reign

Let love reign
When one of our chickens dies, Karen buries the feathered friend in her garden to supply rich fertilizing nutrients for plump tomatoes. Trouble is if we fail to bury the bird deeply enough the raccoons will be around to dig it up and our plants too. They can smell the remains even with a foot of dirt over the corpse.
“Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.”
Proverbs 17:9
If we don’t effectively cover the sins that separate us, they will surely be dug up and exposed again. In our relationships of any sort - work, friends or marriage – for love to reign offenses must be effectively covered.
Some of us want to be loved and it shows. We are forever doing, doing, doing to win affection and if perchance someone else seems to be getting more attention we just might become competitive so we can feel more loved than the other guy. Perhaps self-love will drive us to cover offenses, but I am inclined to think the author has something else in mind. Here it is not likely the one to cover an offense is seeking love for themselves, rather, the author reasons that for love to reign in a relationship the love blockers must be removed from sight and senses. What is it that is hindering me from loving, or what is hindering my friend from freely loving me? If at all possible, cover it.
“Love one another fervently, for love covers a multitude of sins”
I Peter 4:8
I may find it easy to cover a multitude of my own sins, but love must cover a multitude of someone else’s sins. It is surely easier to cover small ones, and they matter, but better love covers all sorts. Simply covering to get them out of sight may not be enough. Let’s not stop there. To love as the Lord loves we will want to go so far as to cover a debt as one might say to someone that owes money – “it’s covered”.
We have been taught to “do for others as we would have them do for us,” and those of us that have been better informed know Jesus went on to add “love as I have loved you…for there is no greater love than that a person lay down their life for a friend.”
“Pursue love…”
I Corinthians 14:1
So pursue love, take it to the limit and let love reign
Grace today y’all