1 Peter 4:7-8 – “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. ⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

I used to read this passage incorrectly, to assume that if someone loved someone else well, it covers a multitude of their own sins.  This of course is wrong because no one can forgive sins except God alone, and Jesus paid for all of the sins of those who would believe on the cross.

God is telling us above what it means to love one another earnestly (not just in pretense).  When you love someone, you will bear with them in their sins against you.  This does not mean that someone can sin against you without consequence.  If someone is physically abusing you, obviously you should distance yourself from that person.  That is not what this is talking about – it is talking about a heart’s desire be gentle, forgiving, and to love someone who has sinned against you towards God.   This is difficult, right?

When someone sins against us, our flesh wants us to respond and hurt that other person as they have hurt us.  If you have the Spirit of God dwelling inside you, you have been given a new calling, as ministers of reconciliation.  You see sin differently; not primarily as a personal attack against you, but as something awful that is keeping someone away from a growing relationship with God who loves them (especially if the person is a brother or sister in Christ).  It is because you believe that Jesus died for your sins, and you have felt the weight of His love and forgiveness towards you, that you can look at your brother or sister in Christ with empathy.  They’ve got sin, you’ve got sin, and you both need the grace of God and mercy poured out on you daily.

I believe God uses the words “a multitude of sins” rather than just “a sin” or “sins” to show us how our heart’s posture of love should cover the sins in others over time.  We belong to Jesus, and Jesus covered thousands upon thousands of our sins on the cross.  If His love is in your heart, by the Spirit of God at work in you, we should be ready to love others in the same way.  This love is transformational.  It will affect every one of your relationships.  When the world sees you be sinned against, and your response is to bear it, and respond in love – it will declare the glory of God, and His worth above all things.

If this is a difficult call for you, know that it is impossible without God.  So with you, I pray for a heart of love, rooted in God’s love towards us in the gospel, so that our hearts would never give in to bitterness or anger, but be joyful in the Lord.  Likewise, my hope for us all is that we love each other in a way that makes much of the glory of God towards us in Jesus.

Grace and Peace,

Adam