Verse of the Day for February 23

Peter is writing to scattered churches under pressure, and his instruction for that situation is not strategy. It is what they are to have among themselves, above all things.

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Fervent is an athletic word — stretched out, strained, at full extension. It is not a warm feeling; it is effort held at the limit.

And cover is not the same as excuse. It is closer to what you do with something that would shame a person if it were left in the open.

There is a version of honesty that is really exposure — accurate, defensible, and destructive to somebody who is already sorry.

Peter says a church survives pressure by covering rather than displaying, and puts it above all things, ahead of every other instruction in the paragraph.

The thing you know about them is probably true. That is not the question.

The question is whether telling it serves anyone but you.