Love And Wisdom Go Together

“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” – Proverbs 10:12

My friend, Louise, loves chocolate. LOVES it! When we celebrate her birthday, the restaurant choice is more about the dessert options than whether they have a great steak or salad.

Do you remember when restaurants first began serving the molten chocolate cakes? I do because Louise and I were together the first time we had one. It’s a great memory.

The fudgy chocolate covered and oozed out of the cake. Chocolate covered the accompanying vanilla ice cream on top. Almost. That’s an important detail.

Louise asked for more chocolate and having a way with servers; she got some. Within just a minute or two, our server stopped by with a little pitcher filled with hot, fudgy chocolate. Louise proceeded to pour it generously over the ice cream and cake.

This is now our tradition. It’s about the chocolate! Louise doesn’t even really need the ice cream! It’s almost irrelevant.

Similarly, our love covers offenses. When we love well, they become irrelevant. We don’t look for or notice what others are doing wrong. We don’t think about what they have done wrong. We don’t hate what they’ve done or who they are. Love allows us to have compassion.

Love has power. We can ask for more of it.

I love what follows Proverbs 10:12. Here’s the first phrase of verse 13: “On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found.” Love allows us to understand, to think the best of someone, to have understanding, and to choose not to hate. Love means we don’t want to live with dysfunction or stress.

Love might mean our lips are not moving because we’ve chosen just to love someone rather than to correct or admonish. Or perhaps our input is loving, true, and wise. We can wisely choose wisdom through our choice to understand people and their circumstances. Love and wisdom go together.

• In what ways are wisdom and love connected?
• In what circumstances is hate easier than love? What might help you love next time?
• Have you thought that some offenses shouldn’t be covered by love? Are some too big or damaging? Or if it’s a certain person causing the problem, is that why love hasn’t worked for you? This verse says “all” offenses are covered by love. What might you need to think, pray, and/or do to fully embrace this truth?

I originally wrote this as a devotional for FUEL – a membership program for parents that’s a part of Ignite the Family, a ministry I cofounded. For a monthly fee, you receive 10 devotionals, a summary fridge sheet, and four audio or video messages. You can learn more here: Ignite The Family Membership