Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. Proverbs 10:12
Hate does indeed stir dissension, but gentleness brings camaraderie and openness. When we are filled with gentleness, we are able to live out the purposes of God in our lives. For only when we are gentle, will people see us as approachable. Only then will they trust us. Only then will we be able to minister to them.
Ministry is the purpose of God in our lives. Therefore, it is mandatory that we embrace gentleness. The writer of Proverbs says we must always be aware that to harbour any hatred or to permit ourselves any grudge will keep us in such a state of dissension that a gentle spirit will elude us.
‘Hatred stirs. . .but love covers,’ in Proverbs 10.12 really means, ‘Hate agitates. . . love pacifies, hate boils in the soul. . . love sails on a placid sea of forgiveness, hate spreads its cancerous tentacles. . . love removes the ugly tissue of resentment and replaces it with the clean, healed tissue of health.
Watch a person who is filled with hatred. That person will vent, spew and be unable to talk without a vitriolic spirit owning his or her speech.
Conversely, watch a person who is under the compulsion of love. That person will serve Christ, and the manner of service will be gentleness.
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