Spiritual Love (13) Love Bears, Believes, Hopes, and Endures All Things (1)
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July 18, 2021 |
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 "… [love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-6
1 Corinthians 13 is called 'Love Chapter'. Verses 4-6 explain the concept of love. Verse 7 draws the conclusion by stating 4 traits of spiritual love.
It says love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Let us delve into the meaning of each.
1. Love Bears All Things
When we try to live by the word of God, we need to bear many things. We have to be patient when we're faced with rising anger or irritation. We need to control our desire to live as we like. That is why the first characteristic of love is that of patience.
Being patient is at the personal level, enduring various things to cast away untruths from heart. Bearing all things has broader and deeper meaning. After cultivating truth in our heart by being patient, we bear all the pains caused by other people. It is to bear with all things that are not of spiritual love.
Jesus did only good things on this earth, but people mocked and despised and crucified Him. Jesus bore with all those people and interceded for them (Luke 23:34). As a result of such bearing, the door of salvation was opened so that anyone who accepts Jesus as his personal Savior becomes God's child. Anyone could be set free from death and gain eternal life by faith.
God is slow to anger because He loves us. He always bears with us and shows us mercy and compassion. He changes very hardened hearts, too. He patiently waits even for those who seem to have absolutely no chance of being saved, to be saved.
Even today He is bearing all pains. He has been patient with so many evil people for thousands of years, waiting for them to be changed with goodness. Even for those who betrayed God and worshiped idols, He bore with them with faith in them and showing them He is the true God. He guides us with endless and limitless love (Jer. 31:3).
I could understand this heart of God to some extent as I've been ministering this church. I always looked at the believers with the eyes of faith, even those who had weak faith and who had unfavorable characters. I was waiting for them to change someday. I earnestly prayed for them as I taught them the holiness gospel.
I've witnessed that eventually many believers became good workers of God as a result of such patience. When I see those individuals I feel my patience was nothing. God counts His patience nothing even though He is patient for such a long time through unbearable moments. Let us realize His love and also love everyone (2 Pet. 3:8).
2. Love Believes All Things
If we truly love somebody we can trust everything about them. Married couples will trust their spouse if they truly love each other. Even if their spouses lack something, they still want to trust them. However, without love there is no trust but only passing judgment and condemnation.
Faith is one of the measures to see the volume of love. Therefore, trusting God completely can be a proof that we completely love Him. Abraham was called a friend of God. Because he trusted God completely, he obeyed without hesitation God's command to give Him his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. God acknowledged Abraham's faith and his love.
Love is to trust others. Those who love God will trust God and His words completely. For this reason they can bear all things.
It says 'love bears all things'. In order to bear all things that are not of spiritual love, we must have faith. Only when we believe all the words of God can we diligently circumcise our heart and cast away all the things that are not of spiritual love.
It is not that we believe in God because we loved Him from the beginning. The fact is that God first loved us, and we just believed it, and we came to love God too. God opened the way of salvation by giving His only begotten Son for us who were sinners. At first, we love God because we believe this fact, but if we cultivate spiritual love, we will reach a level where we believe because we love.
Cultivating spiritual love signifies casting away all hearts of untruth. If free of untruths in heart, spiritual faith will be given from above with which we can believe from heart. Then, we won't doubt God's word and our trust will never be shaken. Also, those who cultivate spiritual love will believe in others as well. It's not because the others are trustworthy, but because with love one can believe in them with the eyes of faith.
We should also believe any kind of person. We should also believe in ourselves. Even though we lack many things, we need to look at ourselves with the eyes of faith, believing in God who will change us. The Holy Spirit in our heart will always tell us that we can do it and He will help us. If we believe God's love and believe that we can change, God will make it happen.
God believes in us. He believed each of us would come to know God's love and be saved. He looked at everything with the eyes of faith. For this reason He gave His only begotten Son on to the cross unsparingly. He believes that even those who do not know the Lord yet will come to His side one day. He believes that those who accepted Jesus Christ will be changed and come forth as His children who resemble Him. I hope you will also be able to believe in any kind of soul.
3. Love Hopes All Things
When people don't like something about others, they tend to try to change others to be as they want. However, it is next to impossible to change others. We need to change ourselves before trying to change others. We can just patiently wait for them to change with love and trust.
Love hopes all things in that it looks forward to our faith being actualized in reality. If we love God, we hope God's words will be accomplished. We bear all things because we hope we will share eternal love with God in the kingdom of heaven later.
Unbelievers live as they wish in their given circumstances because they don't have hope of a happy life in heaven. They just try to gain more and to gratify their desires. However, no matter how much one can enjoy, there is no true satisfaction. They still have fear of an uncertain future.
However, believers go the narrow way because they hope all things. 'Narrow way' means it is seen as a narrow way in the sight of the unbelievers. God's children do not indulge themselves in pleasures of the world. They go to church every Sunday, try to live by the word of God and voluntarily work for Him. All these things are hard without faith, and for this reason it is a 'narrow way'.
The apostle Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:19, "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied." In physical sense we need to exercise self-control in many aspects, and it might appear burdensome. However, this way is the happiest way. If we think of the eternal joy and happiness we will have in heaven, how delightful this way is!
Those who truly believe will keep on waiting and hoping until all things come to be. Even for troublesome teens, if the parents trust them and look at them with the eyes of hope, they can change into good children any moment.
The parents' trust will plant self-esteem in them and facilitate their development. Those with high self-esteem have the faith that they can do anything by themselves and can overcome hardships. Such mindset will increase their grades, too. The same goes when taking care of the souls.
We must never make a character judgment on any soul based on our thoughts. We must never think they will never change or they are not changing at all. We have to look at them with the eyes of hope, hoping they will change by God's love. We have to encourage them and continually pray for them. We should be able to have the eyes of hope with the heart of God who waits for us for a thousand years as if it were but a day.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The power of spiritual love is tremendous. If we cultivate spiritual love to bear, believe, and hope all things, many souls will be touched by our words and actions and be guided to the way of salvation.
I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you will possess spiritual love that can save dying souls and reach the city of New Jerusalem.
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