Love covers

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

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

Love has to protect, hope, trust and persevere, otherwise, it is not love. It would be good to see how the Greek words form to these translations. First, let us consider what it means to protect. The Greek word here is stego, which means roof over, to cover with silence, to keep secret, to hide. Because we love someone, and this would especially have significance in our marriages, that we cover or roof over protecting the one we love. We would never reveal any of their mistakes, or misgivings to anyone. We would always protect their honor and integrity. This would also apply to all our fellow believers, which then would have to put away anything that even resembles in any form to gossip. If we love each other as the body of Christ, then we would protect each other, keeping silent, roofing over, covering over with silence, keeping secret, hiding anything that would or could cause someone to think poorly of them. Just as the roof on our homes protects us from the storms that come our way, keeping the rain and wind outside, it keeps watch over our house without making any noise. It does not say, “Hey, roof up here, doing a fine job, aren’t you proud of me?”. It just protects us. This is love at work, this is doing love, just protecting and not having to make a deal of it, not making sure someone knows we have their back, but rather silently having their back. This covering reminds us of hiding under the shadow of His wings.

Ps 91:4

4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;

NIV

It is remarkably interesting this Hebrew word translated as cover, means much the same as the Greek word translated as protects, it carries the meaning of to fence in, to cover, to protect. This is the love of God at work covering us, keeping, protecting. So then this is how we love others by covering them, protecting them.