"Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins"
(Proverbs 10:12).

There is an old familiar cliché to the effect that we
should "hate the sin, but love the sinner." This may sound a
bit trite because of over-use, but it is nevertheless both
Biblical and practical. It is easy and tempting to be critical
and condemnatory toward someone who has sinned
(especially if the sin has affected us directly), but such an attitude
seldom, if ever, produces repentance on the part of the
sinner. As the above proverb reminds us, it will more likely
generate an angry, defensive response and further strife.

An attitude of loving concern, on the other hand (not
of condoning the sin, but of personal understanding and
sincere interest in the person) will much more likely lead to a
genuine change of heart and restoration. Two New
Testament writers (Peter and James) cite this Old Testament text in
their own advice to Christian believers. Peter says, for
example: "And above all things have fervent charity among
yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins" (I Peter
4:8). "Charity," of course, is the Greek,
agape , which is more often translated "love," even in the King James Version.
The translators used "charity" here, no doubt, because
"love" might be, in this context, misunderstood as erotic love,
or even brotherly love (different Greek words), whereas
"charity" (as an attitude toward others) more nearly describes
the agape kind of love. Note also that this
"charity" is to be fervent charity.

James, like Peter, understands "all sins" in the
Proverbs text to imply "a multitude of sins," and he stresses the
true goal in using this kind of love in dealing with a sinner.
"Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from
the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall
hide a multitude of sins" (James 5:20). HMM