Most of us are familiar with 1 Peter 4:8 which says "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."  Unfortunately though I have seen this Scripture misused often and even I have been guilty of such. 

I remember when God was dealing with me for "mothering" my husband in his sin. Yes; there was actually a time when I would feel sorry for him and coddle him in his sin, justifying his choices based on how he was raised and what he missed out on as a child etc. [What a crock! For reference- my husband has a brother a few years younger who was raised the same way and has chosen a path of integrity] As God was dealing with me in all of that, He made it so clear to me that "Love covers a multitude of sins not covers up a multitude of sins"  Love seeks the highest good of the other person even if that means discomfort to the other person or to themselves. This is what Jesus did for us, isn't it?

I had to study that for myself and go deeper with God to understand what this Scripture really meant.  Only God's pure love can blot out a person's sins. 

I found a great on line resource when researching this Scripture [Simply Christians Australia Bible Study Resource] 1Peter 4:8; I couldn't have written it any better and want to share it with you.

'Your love and my love has no power to blot out sin, or to modify the conditions under which any person's sin may be forgiven. Only the blood of Jesus can blot out sin.

Your love and my love can help sinners to face their sins and repent. Only in that way can the multitude of sins be covered, not by turning a blind eye. This is exactly what James tells us, and here is a good example of how we should interpret one passage with another passage, letting the Bible be its own interpreter. James says, "He who turns a sinner from the error of his ways will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins" (Jas 5:20).

Love is not a carpet under which to sweep people's sin. Rather it is a light which can reveal sin and lead a sinner to God's love, mercy, and grace. But your love cannot do the thing which only the Savior’s love can do.

Some, when considering how "love covers a multitude of sins", think it means one person's love nullifies another's bitterness. We may observe much bitterness in our fellows and feel powerless to rid them of it. So we try to cover up their bitterness with our own outpouring of love and sweetness.

The Lord does not want any malice and "any root of bitterness" to be ignored or covered over. He wants it uncovered and removed (Heb 12:15 Eph 4:31-32). Of course this does not mean that we must pick on our friends, neighbors, loved one's, and brethren, every time some trifling thing they say or do annoys us or hurts our feelings or in some way disadvantages us. Such events are usually excusable or unintentional and if we are sensible we will just "let it drop" or "grin and bear it". Rather, we are talking about situations of substantial wrong, where there is real malice and evil intention.

If you have a room in your house in which the air is not fresh, you can spray an air sweetener to cover up the smell, or you can install an exhaust fan and get rid of the bad air. Which is better? To be a "spray-can Christian" or to be an "exhaust-fan Christian"?

If you find that your drinking water has a bad taste, do you put sugar in the water, or do you rather filter the water and purify it? Love is not sugar to sweeten the bitterness around us. Rather, love is a fine purifier that gets rid of wrong. True love does not hide and abide evil. It exposes and expels evil.

Yes, I know the Bible says, "Overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:17-21), and love will certainly do that. But the "good" we are to do in overcoming evil is not to ignore the evil, but rather to confront that evil with righteousness. The principle is expressed in the saying, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him" (Rom 12:20). Love, being truthful, does not pretend that an enemy is a friend or that his evildoing is of no account. Love rather seeks to purify the evil with good. As we noticed earlier, love seeks to "turn a sinner from the error of his ways” and only by doing that can love “cover a multitude of sins (Jas 5:20)." '