Love’s Quilt - Martin Wiles

Hatred starts fights, but love pulls a quilt over the bickering. Proverbs 10:12 MSG

I love them as much now as I did when I was a little child.

Blankets (even electric ones), flannel sheets, regular sheets, comforters. Nothing compares with a quilt, especially a handmade one. And how do I know it’s handmade. Turn it over. If the stitching is crooked, I know. I also know by how heavy it is. Like the one a family member made for my wife that has an army blanket sewn in between the quilt layers.

In my opinion, nothing matches a quilt during the winter months. One quilt will often take the place of several layers of other types of cover. And the designs are intriguing. My favorite is the wedding rings. Snuggling under a quilt, with nothing between it and my body, brings comfort as nothing else can.

When tent camping, my wife and I make sure to carry along a quilt, even in the summer months. As the night wears on and the morning arrives, with falling temps, pulling the quilt up under my neck and tucking it behind my shoulders brings joy such as I rarely experience. Although the quilt is not a comforter, it comforts.

According to the writer of Proverbs, love is like a quilt when it comes to bringing comfort for searing words. Such words, filled with hatred, lead to fights, but loving words soothe the situation just as a quilt does cold temperatures.

My grandfather had a knack for pulling a quilt over heated circumstances. When my grandmother had bad days and when she fussed at him for virtually everything he did, he pulled a quilt over her heated words with loving responses. My father followed his example. When Mom’s words bit into his day, he responded with the quilt of love.

Giving quilt-like words to those who assault us with rough material words isn’t easy. God can prepare us ahead of time when we pray and consult His Word if we know the situation is coming. But He can also give us the right words if we don’t have time to prepare and are caught off guard.

Quilt words extend love even when we’re not given the same in return. In doing so, they keep the chill out of situations and prevent them from escalating into more than they have to be or should be.

Make up your mind that you’ll speak quilt-like words to others, regardless of what they say to you.

Prayer: Father, give us the wisdom to pull the quilt of love over bitter situations.

Tweetable: Are you covering others with love? 

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