Kinetic Love

Proverbs teaches life lessons by way of showing contrasts between two types of persons or circumstances. These contrasts are often separated by the word “but” which signals the change of atmosphere from dark to light, or vice versa. The purpose of Proverbs is to impart wisdom to young people so they can avoid the sad mistakes experienced by their elders. This wisdom, however, does not just find its utility on earth, but points its readers heavenward. The key verse is Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
William Arnot the Scottish minister and theologian succinctly described the book as “Laws from heaven for life on earth.” It is truly divine wisdom that can help us navigate through life as we know it on earth.

Today let us look at one of them and I would invite you to direct your attention to Proverbs 10:12.
It says, “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.” With a casual glance, the first part of the proverb gives a picture of someone who’s so angry with someone he/she decides to divulge secrets to bring disgrace on his/her enemy. The second part of the verse seems to teach that if you truly loved a person, you would not make her sins public. In a way, that would be right because proclaiming someone’s sins would accomplish nothing but destroy the person’s reputation.

There are actually two statements in this proverb and they are separated by the word “but”. There are two nouns that are compared (hatred and love). There are two verbs (stirreth and covereth). There are two objects of the verb (strifes and sins). Now let’s look at how this was expressed in the original Hebrew language.

“Hatred stirreth up strifes…” – The Heb עוּר | oor for “stirreth” brings the idea of opening the eyes; to wake up (literally or figuratively) and so conveys the sense of bringing to one’s awareness some unpleasant thing that was previously unnoticed. This phrase is saying that hatred for a person motivates one to expose the contention/discord that was there all along! This relationship had developed microscopic cracks and were attacking its integrity. This is what happens when good friends quarrel and the quarrel turns nasty. It can get to the point when each one throws up the hurts and disappointments one had for each other that they’ve kept bottled up for many years while seemingly on the best of terms! Have you been in that kind of a breakup with your ex-best friend? Are you keeping a catalogue of offenses your “best friend” has committed against you? Get rid of that list, before it gets rid of the best of you.

But how do we get to that point of hatred or bitterness? Did you know that bitter hatred has stages leading to it? Paul tells us what they are in Ephesians 4:31.

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”
Paul starts his list with the final effect and moves down the chain which is “evil speaking” with malice. Let’s dissect this. First, malice creeps into one’s heart. How did it get there? Perhaps this malice festered because of envy or jealousy. Lucifer turned malicious when it started to envy God and was jealous of the worship He received. Did you know that envy or jealousy is the product of ingratitude to God? If we can’t thank God with what He gives us, when we look at what others have, our hearts turn envious or jealous. If we don’t check this heart condition, it will lurk in the dark recesses of our heart waiting for an occasion to spring an assault on that person we’re envious or jealous of.
Then there’s evil speaking. Lucifer started to defile the minds of the angels into disliking God and stealing their loyalty. The evil speaking turns into clamoring. That’s loud, almost violent yelling or shouting. Lucifer thought it had gained the majority of the support of the angels and became loud in its discontent. With this came anger because it couldn’t gain the backing of the majority of the angels. Anger turned into wrath. That kind of anger that pushes one to commit murder. Lucifer learned the hard way that God is God, the Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Uncreated Eternal Being who can’t be beaten by any kind of weapon or machination that can be contrived by His creatures. Thus, Lucifer is consumed with bitter hatred for God and everything that represents God, that is, human beings, and nature. When one is gripped by bitter hatred for someone, he will magnify the smallest matter about his enemy and make it sound like breaking news that the world must hear.

“…but love covereth all sins.” – The Heb כָּסָה | kaw-saw’ rendered as “covereth” does not just mean to cloak or conceal, but more importantly, it properly means to plump, that is, fill up hollows. When Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden, it created a cavity in God’s creation. The space that was meant for sinless and pure man was suddenly vacant after their eviction. God had to put into action a rescue plan for humanity so that the deficiency in creation would be filled up and restored.
Herein is the beauty of love, the kind of love God has for fallen humanity. God wants us to exercise the same kind of love for our fellow man. This kind of love is not passive but active and kinetic. It does not stand by the side and just exercise tolerance and suffer the sin being committed by another. It means to compensate for the shortcomings of the object of that love. It means taking Biblical measures that will prevent the loved one from stumbling over that hollow part of the road. That void was created by our sin. God’s kinetic love gave the Son the reason to take on the form of a man, so He could make His infinite love comprehensible to our finite minds. Jesus came and filled our emptiness.

How do we translate this kind of love into our relationship? This means quietly righting a wrong a beloved has done without raising a fuss over the mistake. Because when the erring person discovers what good you’ve done for him/her you will earn greater love and respect in return. This goes against our common and natural response of harshly bringing to the attention of the errant person his/her mistake and demanding he/she rectify it.

Let me pause here because this part begs the question, “If I always compensate for the sin of the person I love, will he/she not abuse this and continue in his/her path of sin because he/she gets the impression that I am tolerating her sinfulness?” Not if he/she sees and understands you are not overjoyed about his/her sinning. Not if he/she hears your tearful prayers for his/her salvation or transformation. Not if he/she sees you lead a holy and righteous life and is faithful in your walk with God. I remember my grandmother Lola Loleng. She was the older sister of my true maternal grandmother but I was her favorite because I was their first grandchild. Although my parents were with me, I grew up with her doting care and attention as long as I was in Cebu City. Years later while I was in college I would sometimes go out, drink with friends and come home teetering drunk. It was when I was in such a condition that I arrived home late at night, and just plopped myself on the bed. As the bedroom reeled around me, my mouth exploded in vomit. Lola Loleng, as old as she was, made it into my room as hastily as she could with her frail frame, cleaned me up and the floor, and cried as she did this. That was enough for me. I swore to myself that I’d never get drunk again. That is how love covers all sins.

Peter applied this verse with a post-Calvary view in mind, saying, “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” 1Peter 4:8. After Jesus had filled up the cavity of the sinful past life in the believer, uncovering it is not our business. Hatred exposes, love covers. Hatred loves to raise up clouds of discord, love will keep it down.

Would you rather stir, or fill up?