Proverbs 17:9 When God Says...I Say, AMEN!

When God says...

“He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.” (Proverbs 17:9 NKJV)

This passage is not encouraging a cover-up, but is rather giving a lesson of faithfulness and loyalty. A person who lets go and moves on. Forgiveness! It is one done so out of love. The kind of love that binds husband and wife, binds a family - a love that bonds a true friendship. It is that act of endearment that refrains from resurrecting the rotten carcasses of the past. It is one that chooses to forgive and sets the past to oblivion. It is one who buries it in the vast sea of forgetfulness. It is the kind of forgiveness which releases the one we love from having to constantly bear the burden and guilt of their mistakes.

This tells us that the one who "repeats a matter" drives a wedge in the intimacy of friendship. The word "repeats" reveals that the issue has been divulged and discussed, but is closed and done over with - and ought not be mentioned anymore. It won't be repeated! Forgiveness has already granted! Bringing it up again reveals, there was no forgiveness. It, indeed, drives a wedge!

Unforgiveness is a lethal poison that kills even the strongest thriving intimate relationship. It creates an environment of noisy nags, opening wounds of faults again and again. A true friend - the one who seeks closeness with a friend - forgives and moves on. He leaves the sin behind and chooses to remember it no longer. This, too, is the core recipe for a lasting marriage.

Yes, we are called to forgive and forget! The Lord Jesus Christ forgave us. And, we ought, as well! When we receive His Lordship by faith, He gave this assurance: “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12 ESV)

And I say, AMEN!

Daily reflections by:
F. A. Frias
PFC Ministries

(When God says... I say, AMEN! is a provocative reflection of the Lord's holy Word. It intends to challenge every seeker of truth to dig deep into the core of the Word of Life to point every being to Christ Jesus - the author and finisher of our faith, and to draw revelations for change, for nourishment and for strength of every soul.)

Partners For Christ Ministries, INC
P. O. Box 773716
Ocala, FL 34477

Touching lives in Cambodia, The Philippines, The Middle East, The USA, and... other countries.