In the first epistle of Peter we are told about the importance of the commandment of love: "Love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" 1 Peter 4:8.
The concept of love used in this phrase is agape love, the love projected towards the whole creation of God, the love gift of the holy spirit. Currently we use the word love to denote a gender, but in the early days of Christianity it was not.
"Love covers a multitude of sins" means benignity, in other words, the capacity to forgive our brothers from the heart. There is a description of the love of charity in the New Testament: "Charity is patient, charity is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self- seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs", 1 Corinthians 13:4.
The true love "keeps no record of wrongs", love as such forgives everything. This love that forgives from the heart is a demand, a need that we understand in the parable of the unforgiving servant ( Matthew 18:23-35):
"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was no able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ´Be patient with me´, he begged, ´and I will pay back everything´. The servant master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him.´Pay back what you owe me!´ he demanded.
His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ´Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.´
But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prision until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
Then the master called the servant in. ´You wicked servant´he said, ´I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shoudn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brothers or sister from your heart."
There is a very famous heresy (teaching of the error) related with this teaching: "You have heard that it was said, ´Love your neighbor and hate your enemy´", Matthew 5:43. The search for truth and eternal life implies the rejection of all heresy. Confront with benignity, the hatred and the fury, is an ethical imperative.
For more information, visit my profile, follow the link, and download for free my ebook.