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1 Peter 4:8 - Love Covers a Multitude of Sins.

1 Peter 4:8 (NIV) Above all, love each other 
deeply, because love covers over a multitude of 
sins.  

1 Peter 4:8 (AMP) Above all things have 
intense and unfailing love for one another, for love 
covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards 
the offenses of others].  

INTRODUCTION

We should live expectantly because Christ is 
coming soon. Getting ready to meet Christ involves 
continually growing in love for God and for others (see 
Jesus' summary of the law in Matthew 22:37-40). It 
is important to pray regularly and to reach out 
to needy people. Your possessions, status, and 
power will mean nothing in God's Kingdom, but you 
will spend eternity with other people. Invest 
your time and talents where they will make an 
eternal difference. [Life Application SB] 

COMMENTARY PEARL

Letting Go
   A 2022 poll of 2,000 adults in the United 
Kingdom showed that 69 percent were holding 
long-term grudges. Top examples of grievances included 
someone you trusted going behind your back, being 
accused of something you didn't do, or receiving 
poor customer service at a business. The average 
length of their grudges was eight years; 12 percent 
admitted to holding them for over 20 years! Twenty 
percent said that holding onto resentment negatively 
affected their mental health. 
   Peter's advice in today's Bible promise 
would resolve a lot of bitterness in people's 
hearts. "Love will cover a multitude of sins" means 
we are willing to forgive others. Clinging to 
past wrongs feels right but can erode our 
well-being for years. For example, one grudge mentioned 
in the poll is resentment held against 
childhood bullies. One man, who attended his 50th 
class reunion, was still bitter at a classmate who 
bullied him when they were teens. 
   What does "fervent love for one another" 
mean? The word fervent in Greek literally means 
"fully extended" Such love goes to great lengths to 
resolve and let go of past wrongs. There is a time 
to speak to someone about a problem - see 
Matthew 18:15 - but there is a time to let it go. 
Not every effort to resolve a dispute will be 
resolved in a satisfactory way. So, what options do 
you have? Cling to bitterness and suffer ... or 
forgive and forget. (Forgiving doesn't mean you 
shouldn't set healthy boundaries.) 
   In describing love, Paul says it "thinks 
no evil" (1 Corinthians 13:5), which means that 
it keeps no record of wrong. Are you still 
holding a grudge against someone for hurting you? 
Take your pain to Jesus. He keeps records so that 
you don't need to. 
   Dear Lord, I put my desire for vengeance 
into Your hands and will let You make all wrongs 
right. [The Most Amazing Bible Promises by Amazing 
Facts] 

COMMENTARY

If a brother has done you an injury, my 
Christian friend, you are not to seek revenge, nor 
even to harbor a desire for retaliation; but you 
should pity him; he has need of your pity. Have the 
same feelings of compassion for him that you 
would have others manifest for you if you were 
enshrouded in darkness. Call to mind the many times 
that you have erred, and made mistakes in your 
life-work; and remember how hard it has been to find 
the right way when you had once left it. If you 
have the Spirit of Christ abiding in you, no 
unkind words will fall from your lips. You will not 
push your brother into greater darkness, but with 
a heart full of pity you will tell him of his 
danger. You will get down and pray with him, and 
perhaps save his soul from death, and thus COVER a 
MULTITUDE of sins. What right have you to pursue any 
other course than this? If you do, you walk 
contrary to the rule given by God, and grieve his 
Holy Spirit. ST 01-06-87 

The Love That Can Heal. Only the love that 
flows from the heart of Christ can heal. Only he 
in whom that love flows, even as the sap in the 
tree or the blood in the body, can restore the 
wounded soul. Loves agencies have wonderful 
power, for they are divine. The soft answer that 
turneth away wrath, the love that suffereth 
long, and is kind, the charity that covereth 
a multitude of sins (Proverbs 15:1; 1 
Corinthians 13:4, R.V.; 1 Peter 4:8, R.V.). How life 
would be transformed, and the earth become a very 
likeness and foretaste of heaven! Ed114 

CLOSING PEARL

   The house looks nice, Mom," I said. I sat 
down on the couch in my parents' new living 
room. 
   "Really?" my mom asked. Her eyes were 
earnest. It had been difficult for her to leave her 
1860s home and move to a modern house. 
   "This room looks nothing like the listing 
pictures. You've put your mark on it." 
   I looked around me. The walls were lined 
with bookshelves. Potted ferns tempered the 
trendy fireplace. The old grandfather clock ticked 
in a new corner. 
   "The one thing that feels out of place is 
the TV," I said. My eyes were drawn to the 
massive flat-screen mounted on the wall - a remnant 
of the home's previous owners. Its dark screen 
was dominating. 
   "That's the next thing to go," my mom 
said. "I've never had a TV in my living room. I 
want the focus of the room to be people, not a 
television." 
   Her words hit me hard. My mom centered 
her home on people. More than that, she focused 
her life on sharing Christ's love with others. 
   Sitting in her living room, I questioned 
the focus of my own life. I'd spent a lot of my 
time wrapped up in my own wants and concerns. My 
education. My career. My aspirations. 
   I wanted to mirror my mom's love for 
others. I wanted to mirror her love for Christ. 
   So I made a silent promise to myself to 
remove the television screens from my life - to 
shift my focus from myself to others. 
   "I'm glad you think the house is coming 
together," my mom said. 
   It was. Because her focus was in the 
right place. 
   Lord, help me to use my life to share 
Your love with others. Logan Eliasen [Walking in 
Grace 2021 Devotional by Guideposts and 
Zondervan] 

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1 Peter 4:8 - Love Covers a Multitude of 
Sins. 

https://www.abible.com/devotions/2024/20240216-0944.html 

Proverbs 10:12 - Love Conquers Sin

https://www.abible.com/devotions/2004/20040517-1046.html 

James 5:20 (NIV) remember this: Whoever 
turns a sinner from the error of his way will save 
him from death and cover over a multitude of 
sins. Devotional pending. 

Mark 11:25 - Prayer and Forgiveness.

https://www.abible.com/devotions/2021/20210805-1015.html 

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

https://abible.com/links/