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Swamped

 One of Jesus’ disciples gave us a great reason to show love. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

 

I have always liked that phrase, “Love covers a multitude of sins.” The Greek word means to hide or conceal something. But better than a dictionary definition is the graphic image another disciple gave us in his gospel. Describing the event where Jesus calmed the storm with just His words, Matthew 8:24 says, “And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep.”

 

Matthew described the boat as being swamped by the storm. Swamped is the same Greek word translated as covers by Peter. The storm that threatened to claim the lives of the disciples violently covered their fishing boat. This was an aggressive covering.

 

Our love should have that same type of aggression. Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest wrote of this verb, “When one Christian truly loves his fellow Christian, he will not publish abroad his failings, but will cover them up from the sight of others.” [1]

 

Love truly covers a multitude of sins. If we love our neighbor as ourselves, like Jesus told us to, then we will cover our neighbor’s sin. This does not mean we look the other way, or that actions are free from consequences. This means we are quick to forgive those who seek it. It means we do not rush to spread gossip, and when we know of someone’s mistake, we keep it as quiet as we can to minimize the damage to his reputation. 

 

Obviously there are times to speak up and shine a light on offenses. Peter’s point is that Christians should be set apart from the world in that we seek reconciliation and restoration when someone slips up. Our goal is not getting even or making ourselves feel morally superior; our goal should be to heal relationships in a spirit of humility (See also Galatians 6:1).

 

Rather than throwing stones, let’s swamp the boat, aggressively covering a multitude of wrongs.  


[1] Wuest, Kenneth, Greek Word Studies in the New Testament, vol.2 p.115

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