Love believes all things

Faith is one of the three human character traits, according to 1 Corinthians 13:13, which will remain forever. “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” When we normally think of faith we think of faith in God and, when Paul says that “Love believes all things” he is certainly speaking of our faith in God. But in this verse, Paul is speaking about our faith in God pertaining to other people more than our faith in God relating to ourselves.

In believing all things, love makes a conscience choice to walk by faith in God rather than by what is seen. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) Life is full of unforeseen challenges, disappointments, and even offenses from other people. If we live our lives limited only by what we can see, our lives will be as unstable as a ship floating helplessly on a storm tossed sea. Every day our circumstances confront us with reasons to doubt God, to doubt each other, and to doubt the value of our relationships.

Love takes courage and that courage does not come from examining our circumstances. Sometimes they will encourage us but other times they will discourage us to the point of despair. The courage that love requires comes only when we learn to view our circumstances and relationships through the eyes of faith. Only when we learn to see as God sees will we have courage to continue to love even through the times of discouragement and disappointment. So what should we choose to believe regarding other people? The Bible is a ready source of promises. Here are but a few.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) God loves all people. Even the most unlovely of people are loved by God. We judge people from their outward appearance and behavior but God looks at their heart. God is able to find something lovely about all people and all people are precious to God. Love chooses to agree with God and believe that all people are worthy of love. Love believes that, even when we cannot find something to love in someone else, they are still precious to God and worthy of our love. We love, not because we judge other worthy of our love, but because God has already judged them worthy of love.

“They were even more astonished and said to Him, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:26-27) No one is beyond God’s saving power or beyond His healing touch. Even the hardest heart can be soften and converted by the goodness and the power of God. No one is beyond hope. “For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.” (Ecclesiastes 9:4) Love chooses to believe there is no one, nor any circumstance, that is beyond God’s redeeming touch. Love continues to believe the best, to believe that any person and all circumstances can be redeemed.

“And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’” (Revelation 21:5) God did not create the world and then abandon it to its own devices. Rather, God is still actively involved in the everyday happenings of His creation and His people. It is easy to become discouraged when we face circumstances that seem resilient to change. It is easy to succumb to hopelessness when faced with long term difficulties that seem like they will never improve. The truth, however, is that even when things seem to be at their worst, God is still working. Consider Joseph whom his brothers sold into slavery. Joseph’s life went from bad to worst. First slavery and then imprisonment, yet what Joseph could not see was that God was working to prepare him for the place of second-in-command of all of Egypt. God was preparing him for greatness. If we look with natural eyes we may get discourages, but if we look with eyes of faith we will see that God is still at work. Love chooses to believe and to not give up just because things look difficult and change impossible.

“For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:8) Faced with a difficult situation, love realizes that we cannot just sit around and wait for change. Love chooses to sow into difficult situations that we might later reap change. Problems in a relationship do not grow overnight nor does change happed instantly. Change is a process and involves sowing and reaping. Love chooses to continue to sow godly things into its relationships even when the immediate result is more hurt and difficulty. Love believes that if it sows spiritual things it will eventually reap spiritual things. If it sows the love of God into a relationship, it will eventually reap the love of God from that relationship. Love sees the long term picture and chooses to sow in the present that it may reap in the future.

“Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:6) No one wants to be made a fool of. You have heard the old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.” But God has given us a special promise, if we walk in faith with Him, we will never be put to shame. This applies in our relationship with God and also in our relationship with other people. If we love in faith, we will not be put to shame or made a fool of. There is a risk in loving people. People are not always predictable, they can bless you but they can also hurt you and break your heart. But God promises that if we extend the love of God to other people, no matter what happens in the relationship, if we love by faith, we will not be put to shame. Another translation of this verse is that those who trust in the Lord will not be “disappointed”. Let us live by faith and love by faith. Let us choose to believe all of God’s promises as we extend the love of God to others. And as we do, we can trust that we will never be disappointed or shamed by our trust in God.

David Robison