Explain the Proverb, "Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins."

"While I was eating lunch with my friends, one of them told another he was fat," says Connor, age 7. "The word 'fat' upset my friend and me."

Did you say "fat"? That's a fightin' word for many people. Call me ugly. Call me crazy, but don't call me fat.

Providentially, Connor remembered: "God teaches us to forgive one another. My friend and I should forgive our friend even though he was mean and hateful."

Christians should forgive because they've been forgiven in Christ. Can we withhold forgiveness when we have offended a holy God who has forgiven us of much greater offenses?

"Hatred makes people mean," says Patrick, 8. "Mean people look for bad things in others. Love makes people look for good in others."

Whatever is in our hearts functions like radar. Those who harbor hatred are like the guy who had Limburger cheese on his mustache. Everything stinks.

If we hate, we'll find reasons to justify our hatred. Our capacity for self-delusion knows no end.

Love oils relationships. And when we forgive, we don't keep score of offenses against us. Some people have total recall for the past sins of others but amnesia regarding their own sins.

When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he cried out, "It is finished!" When you say you forgive, remember Jesus' words on the cross. Let that be the end of it.

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