“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.”
sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently
This is the first mention of love in 1 Peter. The second chapter challenges us to “Love the brotherhood” (v.17). In chapter 3, verse 8, Peter dares us to “love as brothers.”
Chapter 4, verse 8 says, “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’” The phrase “above all things” means the most essential thing in the Christian community is love. Peter challenges us to cover the sins of others, not our sins. This is true biblical love.
PRINCIPLE:
True love protects the reputation of fellow Christians.
APPLICATION:
Do you cover for your fellow Christian’s failures? When was the last time you covered up for your brother or sister in Christ? When did you hide his or her sin from the public?
We get the idea that God calls upon us to expose the sins of others. We often do this in a pseudo-spiritual way: “We ought to pray for so-and-so because you wouldn’t believe what he did…”
Christians have sly ways of gossiping. We sow suspicion. It may merely be a raised eyebrow. We do not have to say anything. We say, “I wonder what happened? Maybe he ran away with someone’s wife. Maybe he went back to drinking.” A little question mark, a little insinuation, an innuendo, a tone in the voice can cast deep suspicion on people.
