The “Love Chapter” is a rich tapestry of advice on how to live in good relationship with each other. I would like to meander around 1 Corinthians 13:7 which has 4 anchor points. Bearing, believing, hoping and enduring.
Love…”bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” – 1 cor 13:7 NKJV
“Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances and it endures everything [without weakening].” 1 Cor 13:7 AMP
In this verse along, love is:
Steadfast
Active commitment
Supportive, no resentful
Giving benefit of the doubt
Maintaining hope – potential
Believing in transformation
Pushing through
Resilient
In Verse 7, it is written in present tense. bearing, believing, hoping and enduring. These are to be our lifestyle, our chosen attitude, a continuous choice. To make such a choice with our fallen nature, needs the supernatural strengthening and enabling of God. We can only love when we have HIS power working and in and through us. It also repeats the phrase “all things” – which is trying to make a point. True supernatural enabled love shows these qualities in all things, to all people, but also acknowledging that in life we need to be wise and have boundaries with Spirit led discernment.
Bears all things: “Stego” from “Stege” – meaning a thatch roof or covering of a building. To cover closely, protect, keeping the undesirable out. We bear all things when we protect others from exposure, ridicule, gossip, exploitation, gloating or condemnation. It does not bare – rather it bears by covering each others’ frail nature like a cloak, showing support and not condemnation. (Phrase taken from ‘preceptaustin.org – link below)
Believes all things: “Pisteuo” from “Pistis” – believing the best about all people. It is not gullible, but is layered with wisdom and discernment (an important thing to remember in this exegesis).
Hopes all things: “Elpizo” from “Elpis” – a sense of confidence. This is desiring that everything will work out ok. It is one of the three pillars in 1 Corinthians- Faith, hope, love. Hope is against doom and gloom. “It takes sunny and cheerful views of man, of the world and of God because it is a sister of love” (Pulpit Commentary). It is all about us having the best expectations, with Godly optimism.
Endures all things: “Hupomeno” – like an army holding a vital position. This is all about remaining strong under the load, doing so only because we have the power of God within us. It is a supernatural love that sustains the attack of the enemy. This kind of love endures persecution with a patient and loving spirit, with no desire to retaliate or reject the other, remaining steadfast when things are not so nice. This love endures setbacks, and doesn’t give up on people no matter what they do (and sometimes this absolutely requires a supernatural working of the Spirit!)
So how do we live this this kind of love? How can we truly live and love with a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love? We can’t. Not on our own. We need the power of God working in us so it can flow out to others. We need to continually come to God and admit our flawed humanity, and let HIS love, Hope and Faith flow through us. Jesus is the fulfilment of the 1 Cor 13 kind of love. Agape love, sacrificial life, pure love. Barclay (Daily study Bible) puts it this way: “One thing remains to be said…when we think of the qualities of this love as Paul portrays them, we can see them realised in the life of Jesus himself.” So run to Jesus, run to the cross, fix your eyes on Him when it is difficult to love others. Let Him fill your heart, then His supernatural love will change your thinking and flow out to those around you. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches (John 15). Let us cling to the vine, fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2). Focus on Him first (Matt 6:33), dwell on things above and not of this earth (Col 3:2), and pray continually (1 Thess 5:17), that we might all be filled with godly love for each other.
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