Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Peter 4:8

"above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins:" — 1 Peter 4:8 (ASV)

“Above all” reminds us of the primacy of agape, “love” (GK 26 & 27) among fellow Christians. This love is to be “eager” or “earnest” (NIV “deeply”; GK 1756). Such love can be commanded because it is not primarily an emotion but a decision of the will leading to action. The reason for us to show love is that “love covers over a multitude of sins.” This quotation from Pr 10:12 does not mean that our love covers or atones for our sins. In the proverb the meaning is that love does not “stir up” or broadcast sins. So the major idea is that love suffers in silence and bears all things (1 Corinthians 13:5–7). Christians forgive faults in others because they know the forgiving grace of God in their own lives.