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

I Corinthians 13:4 – 7

I grew up with these words, especially from my mother.  I know that she struggled with some relationships so her repeating these words had special meaning to her and, even now, speaks to me about relationships.  She spoke hardly ever about the faults of others.  I am sure she knew all about their faults, but she did not pass on those feelings to us.

Now that I am grown I realize that she was not blind to the imperfections in others, in fact she knew them quite well.  But she chose not to share her feelings with us children.  She was super wise in doing that.  She was not blind to them but she no doubt passed the feelings through God’s filter and found them to be hurtful and not helpful and so refused to nurse those feelings.

I believe Paul dealt with the faults in others in the same way, because he certainly wrote about how to deal with them, by washing away the negative feelings with the strong, powerful positives that are ours through the Holy Spirit.  He then loved with God’s love.