Secret love

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

SECRET LOVE

Prov 27:5

5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

NIV

What good is a friend who tell us they love us, but will never bring any of our faults to our attention? Then again on the other hand what good is it for us to tell our friends we love them, but never bring any of their faults to their attention? Granted, when we take God’s definition of love as he inspired Paul to explain it in his letter to the Corinthians, it would be difficult to have a secret love. If we lived by that definition our love for one another would be so evident it could not be considered secret love.

1 Cor 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

NIV

The part about rejoices with the truth bears much on this proverb. If we love someone then we would be truthful about their faults. So we might think overlooking them is being patient, kind and not rude or not keeping a record of their wrongs, but that would be wrong thinking. Because of the love for someone, open exposed love, those faults would be brought forward, but only in confidence between the two friends as love always protects and always trusts and hopes. This is not open rebuke in front of all listeners, this is open discussion from one loving friend to another. Consider how much God loves us. If he kept his love hidden from us or his rebuke we would not even know he loves us. All the words in the bible are God-breathed and are profitable for us.

2 Tim 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

NIV

There it is. Because God loves us he rebukes us and because he rebukes us, just between the two of us, we know he loves us, his love is not hidden. So let us not either hide our love from our friends or for that matter our somewhat friends, our acquaintances. Because we are told to love our neighbor as ourselves then would it not be right to show that love, not hide it? According to this proverb it would be better for us to rebuke them. What kind of rebuke, for what kind of fault? The greatest fault anyone could ever have is disbelief in Jesus. So then do we keep our love a secret or do we rebuke them openly?