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Thought for the Day : Proverbs 10:12

v.12   Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

Two underlying attitudes of heart - hatred and love - and the effect they have.

Hatred in a person stirs that person up. Something has upset them and they have not dealt with it properly, so they allow it to fester and grow within them. It soon turns bad and becomes hatred. They will not remain quiet and still, but will cause dissension and upset. Unresolved inner conflicts must be dealt with, especially when they have to do with other people, or they will fester and develop into hatred, which in turn with cause even greater upset and eventual destruction.

Love on the other hand is peaceful, calming and healing. It accepts and forgives and as such covers the wrongs done against it. Cultivate love in you, destroy any vestige of hatred. Love understands the reasons for failure and is full of mercy and grace. Love is gracious, love is kind and envies no one (1 Cor 13:4). Perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18 ). Love will be there working for the best in others, is not there picking out wrongs but seeking to cover them that they may be washed away in love and thus never repeated.

Am I aware of unresolved issues in my heart that fester there, gradually building? I must deal with them before they grow to hatred and worse come. As I encounter others today, will Jesus' love in me love and accept them as they are, will my love for them desire and look for something better than they have at present? Will his love in me have a redeeming effect rather than a condemning effect?