A Quilt of Love

"Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8 (New Living Translation)

Holidays mean being together with people we may not choose to be with on a regular basis.  There may be a history we'd like to forget.  Or we may have a functioning and functional group of people to get together with.  Even there, we still need spiritual and emotional WD-40 to lubricate squeaky hinges in relationships with people we actually like.

My Bible Study Fellowship group has been studying the story of Noah's ark this month.  We discussed the story of life right after the flood in our last session.  Noah, a truly functioning and functional man of God had done an incredibly human thing--gotten drunk and naked in his own tent.  Sound a little bit like some family holidays you've been part of?

Noah's son, Ham, did what is all-too-easy to do in these situations.  He turned his good father's weakness into an opportunity to gossip to his brothers and expose his father's sin. Ham's brothers chose the high road.  They took a blanket and backed into their father's tent, covering him respectfully while not leering at his naked body.

As a result, Ham was under a curse for his using his father's weakness and sin as an opportunity to expose him and mock him.  His brothers received a blessing for covering their father's shame with a "quilt of love".  (Genesis 9:20-27)

I wonder if we sometimes choose to put ourselves under a curse when we choose the low road of criticism, negativity and gossip within our family groups, instead of taking the higher road of "covering with a quilt of love".

One of my fellow students in my discussion group observed that her own family of origin spent a lot of time exposing one another through criticism and gossip and not very much time covering one another with love.

Covering another's sins and weaknesses does not mean turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to them.  It means making a deliberate choice to allow that person the time and grace of God to choose a better way, and offering the "quilt" of our unconditional love and support in the meantime.

--Posted by Mama O.