Love and Forgiveness

“Above all things, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sin,” (I Peter 4:8).

Who better to write these words than the apostle Peter, the one who denied Jesus three times after he firmly confessed to Jesus’ face, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will… Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. And all the other disciples said the same,” (Matt. 26:33-35).

One of the great test of true love is the act of forgiveness. Is there any relationship that you have had where forgiveness was not needed? It is not just in the close relationship of marriage where we need to practice forgiveness, but even among our best friends and co-workers we interact with on a daily basis.

Too many times people walk off and away from relationships when someone has hurt them, either through words or actions. Peter reminds us of love’s power to forgive a multitude of sin. The word multitude is the Greek word, “plethos,” meaning vast or great number. It makes me think of GOD’s great love for the world and the vast or great number of sins he has forgiven through the blood of his son, Jesus Christ. Think about all of your sins. Could you even list all of them? For most of us we remember the worst ones, the horrible ones, the ones that everyone else remembers, but what about those we committed in ignorance? GOD has forgiven us of a multitude of sins, even the ones we will commit tomorrow and years into the future.

Peter calls us, above everything else in the Christian life, to love each other…deeply. To have the kind of deep love that forgives a vast amount of sin.