Daily Manna · Day 297 · October 24
Fervent Love Covers Sin
“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.”
When snow falls on a ploughed field, the ruts are still there underneath. Nothing has been filled in, and anyone standing at the gate knows exactly what lies under the white.
That is the kind of covering Peter means when he writes, "for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." "Charity" is the old English word for love. Be careful about what this verse does not say, because it has been made to do terrible work. It does not tell a church to hide what someone is doing to other people. Men who knew better have quoted it to keep victims quiet. It does not say that a wrong stops mattering, and it does not forbid you to raise it with the person who did it. Peter is drawing on Proverbs, where the line stands beside its true opposite: "Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins." So the opposite of covering is stirring things up. It is spreading the story and keeping it going around because repeating it feels good.
Notice, too, where Peter places this: "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves." The word "fervent" is a straining word. It pictures someone stretched out as far as they can reach. It is the hard choice not to broadcast a wrong you can still feel.
A church where wrongs are covered this way becomes a place where flawed people can stay long enough to change. That is the room love makes, and it is the same room God has made for each of us.
So think about the thing you are carrying about someone this week. Are you covering it, or are you keeping it warm? Covering love is hard work, but it is the love God showed when He covered your sins, and He gives it to you so you can pass it on.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 297 is The Impossible Thing (Matthew 19:26).