Proverbs 27:5

5Open rebuke is better
Than love carefully concealed.
-Proverbs 27:5

Consider the measure of love a father would have for his child if he let that child play wildly with sharp knives. Consider the measure of love a man would have for his grandmother that he watched walk out into a busy roadway and paid no more than a glance to it. There is no love there. They may say that they love the individual, but what kind of love is that? How concealed must it be? Most fathers would take the knife from the child and discipline them for something so dangerous. Most grandchildren would hasten to save their grandmother from the busy roadways. It is love that I would discipline my child. It is love that I remove my grandmother from the situation. It is love that I rebuke openly those brothers and sisters of mine who practice sin.

We need to get out of the mindset that rebuke is simply offensive. The intent of rebuke is to protect and save. We often shy away from giving necessary rebuke because we are afraid to hurt someone or are afraid to damage our relationship. What we fail to realize is that the thing we are failing to rebuke them for is often far more dangerous than the hurt that can be done to your relationship. I would rather have slapped the hand of my child that played with a dangerous tool than reap the consequences of what could happen should she play with that knife. I would rather deal with the bruises that would follow hastily saving my grandmother than the consequences that would follow if I did not. Do we see the danger of wickedness and sin? Do we see the danger of worldliness and what the love of it can do? We must rebuke openly instead of concealing our love for others. Speak the truth in love. Restore one another in a spirit of gentleness. Avoidance is not the answer to these things. Rally alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ. We would all do better if we as the body stuck together in such ways.