Love endures all things

Now here's where the rubber meets the road.  Are you up to a real endurance test?   All you have to do is live in relationship with other people without blowing up, leaving, ignoring or avoiding them even when they cause you pain.   To endure means we will be persistent in our love through the hard times as well as the good times.

God demonstrated His endurance in Christ.    Obviously Jesus endured the mocking, the shame, the pain and torture of the cross "for the joy that was set before Him".  Read  Hebrews 12:1&2.   While on earth, He endured all the temptations and heartaches we endure.  He endured living and walking with a group of men who bickered about who was going to be the greatest and totally misunderstood His purpose for being there.  He endured the scrutiny of the Pharasees and the unbelief of people who'd seen His miracles and still couldn't see who He was.

God still endures.  Although it pains Him to see us when we sin and when we fail because we didn't put our trust in Him, still He says  "I will never leave you nor forsake you"  Hebrews 13:5

Love hopes all things

So what is hope.   I certainly hope someone just hands me a million dollars tomorrow or that Congress balances the budget, but that's very likely not going to happen.   Have you ever heard the phrase, "hope for the best, but expect the worst"?  That way you're always right.      

Is this what you think of when you think of hope?   Well, let's be clear.  That is not what the Bible means by using the word "hope". The word for hopes(elpizō) in the Greek has a meaning of expectation of good.   When you love others, you have an expectation of good in their life.  Not because they're good or because of their good circumstances, but because God is good.   As we love and pray for those God has placed in our lives, we look with expectation on what God will do to draw them to Himself.

Of course, unlike us, what Jesus expected would come to be, always came to be, and always comes to be.  Since He knows, His expectations are reality.   In I John 3:2, it tells us that "we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."   Let us live in that great hope and express that hope for others.

Love believes all things

Doesn't that sound rather gullible?  Keep in mind, this love thing has to do with relationships.  How do we fully love someone when we are suspicious of their thoughts and actions?  Are they giving me the straight facts?   What about their motives?   Are they really Christian?   Do they even care?


John 8: 3 - 11 tells a story about a woman caught in adultery.  The Mosaic law demanded that she be stoned to death.  After extending grace to this woman, Jesus told her to go and sin no more.   Jesus believed that to be a possibility.  He believed in the power of God to keep this woman from continuing in adultery.

Jesus believes in us too because He knows the power of His Holy Spirit to change lives.     I believe He wants us to believe in others and believe on their behalf.   That's why we can then forgive many times over, because we believe in the power of God to help those seeking forgiveness to overcome the sin that continues to plague them.

So, to "believe all things" doesn't mean to believe every lie that comes along, but rather to believe in the power of God to change lives.