1 Corinthians 13:7b love believes all things

I really did not understand this verse until I had children of my own. Agape love does not believe a lie. Agape love believes there is a reason for the lie.

My girls would be fighting and I would go in to break it up and listen to each side of the story. Naturally they each had a defensive posture for the event. I found myself believing both of them. Not the words they spoke but the emotions they felt. There is always an underlying truth for each which isn’t always articulated in those moments.

Who did what is not nearly as important as why things got to this point of estrangement. Each had a guilty part in allowing things to get to the breaking point and no amount of judgment is going to heal that break.

Agape love believes both in a way that can heal wounds. Judgment will please one and alienate the other but the goal is reconciliation. They can only reconcile with each other if they both reconcile themselves to God. Both, not just one.

As a father I can only point out the truth. I cannot make them believe it. God loves in much the same way, speaking truth in love and allowing love to do its work. I will admit as a father it is a slow and frustrating thing to see how long it takes sometimes for that to sink in. I believe it will.

Looking beyond the surface helps me in all the areas of my life, especially within myself.

1 Corinthians 13:7a love Beareth all things

Here is a prime example of how agape love acts and gives us an opportunity to measure ourselves in comparison. God’s agape love never changes because of circumstances. I could get extreme here but I don’t think it would gain us anything of value.

So what is a less dramatic example of those things we can bear up to in life? How about when people are rude to you? Is it easier now than before you came to Christ to put up with rude people? Do you still take it personally or do you see their rejection as rejecting the Lord and not you?

When people get snippy with you, do you snipe back or hold your tongue? Are you getting better at resisting old negative reactions? While God’s perfect love does not change and can bear up to anything, all we can expect realistically is to get better at loving like God loves. His abiding love is an encouragement to better behavior.

The more difficult or severe the suffering is that we are asked to endure, the more we have to rely on God’s enhancement of our soul. We will never know unless we are tested and we do get tested. Life itself, even without the devil’s hand, is a test of endurance. I won’t rely on the old tired adage, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I rather believe what the Lord does in us makes it easier to endure.

I think that is a fair comparison of agape love and our ability to grow in that love. While I don’t want you to be too harsh on yourselves, I also do not wish for you to be complacent with your current performance. We need to strive for better than before. Small gains are better than none.