I saw this sign in a BBQ restaurant several days ago. It reminded me that everyone in the Body of Christ, including myself, has sins, faults and shortcomings. That is why the Apostle Peter tells us:
“Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” (I Peter 4:8)
“Above all” could be translated “before all in order of importance” and speaks to the fact that love is the prerequisite to all exercises of Christian duty. Somewhere in Scripture is a word picture that shows love as a coat that binds all the other pieces (spiritual gifts) of a wardrobe together and completes them. What Peter is telling us then is very, very important.
The word “love” here is “agape”, God’s type of love that is produced in our hearts by the Holy Spirit at salvation. Romans 5:5 says “…the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit…”. It is a love that considers the object of it’s affection to be precious.
The reason for this exhortation to keep “fervent” or “stretched out” in love for one another is that love covers a multitude of sins. If we truly consider our fellow Christians precious to God and; therefore, precious to us, we will not talk about their failings/sins, but keep them to our self and cover them with our love; knowing we have our own sins to gain the victory over.
How much sinful gossip would be eliminated in the Church if we truly “agape” each other.
Walk in Love,
Carl
Psalm 119: 38 