1. 1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why would Peter begin this verse with “above all”?

1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)

8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Peter wants to touch on the matter of earnest love for one another. He is writing to first-generation believers who lost their place in family and society as a result of being born again (1 Peter 1:3, 1 Peter 1:23), that is, sojourners and exiles in their communities (1 Peter 2:11). It was of utmost importance that these marginalized and lonely people receive a new community. That community is of course the family of faith.