Love Believes All Things Series

INTRODUCTION

SLIDE 1- MAIN SLIDE

- Have you ever been betrayed, tricked, or lied to?

- I would imagine all of us could sadly say yes to that.

- When we observe the world around us and watch the media, we notice that everything is often portrayed in the worst possible light.

- That is unless what is happening fits the agenda of whichever source you are tuned into.

SLIDE 2- TITLE SLIDE

- When we are children, we tend to believe in everyone.

- We had an innocence about us that I believe makes it easier to love people.

- But what happens over time?

SLIDE 3- THE CHALLENGE OF TRUST

- We begin to understand the cruelty and deceitfulness of people, losing the innocence we once had and replacing it with the harsh realities that the world reveals about human nature.

- Once we reach that stage in life, things become more challenging because, understandably, we no longer take people at face value; our experiences have taught us that we cannot trust them.

- Depending on the severity of your burn, you might believe that you can never think well of others.

- When I worked with animals at the shelter, I would notice this behavior in certain animals.

- Some of them arrived from environments where people had mistreated them.

- Those cats and dogs took a lot of love and patience to get them to trust people again.

- What is one of the most challenging actions we must take to improve our ability to love?

- Today, as we continue our quest to love better, we will dive into the issue of love believing all things.

- We will see what this statement from Paul means and also what it does not mean.

- If we are going to learn to love better, we need to grasp the difficult concept that love believes all things.

- The part of verse 7 we will focus on today describes the relentless, active nature of this aspect of love, and today's focus is on one crucial aspect: "love believes all things.

- Let’s look at our main passage together.

1 Corinthians 13:7 NET 2nd ed.

7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

SERMON

SLIDE 4- MAIN POINT 1

I. Love believes all things? Really?

- This statement about what love does can be difficult and confusing.

- Most of the other statements can be a bit difficult at times; however, love believing all things?

- That can be a challenge.

- "Believes all things" signifies a charitable judgment and a predisposition to trust.

- It means approaching others with an initial assumption of their sincerity and good intentions, rather than with suspicion and cynicism.

- "Believes all things" does not mean that love is easily fooled or naive or that it ignores truth and discernment.

- Look at what Jesus told His disciples as He sent them out.

Matthew 10:16 NET 2nd ed.

16 “I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

SLIDE 5- WHAT IT MEANS

- Love believing all things does not negate the need for the use of discernment.

- This isn't about being susceptible to deception but rather about beginning our interactions with the assumption of innocence.

- It reflects God's own love, which sees potential and value even when we fall short.

- The word believe comes from the same root as the word faith.

- Believe means to trust, put faith in, and rely on, along with many other words that convey the same thought.

- This is where it gets a bit spicy: love believing all things doesn't imply a gullible or naive acceptance of falsehood, but rather a profound choice to trust, to see the best in others, and to hold steadfastly to faith.

- When the evidence indicates that you are being deceived, simply believing in love does not provide clarity; therefore, we must accept the lie.

- Love's belief is not blind to reality but chooses to focus on the best possible interpretation and the potential for good in people and situations.

- It looks for evidence of God's grace at work, even amidst imperfections and failings.

- This hopeful belief can be transformative, encouraging growth and redemption in others, rather than condemning them based on past mistakes or present weaknesses.

- We can go through life being skeptical of everyone around us, and when we live that way, we will miss a tremendous number of blessings.

- Are there people we cannot believe?

- Absolutely.

- You can handle those types of people, but if you see everyone that way, you'll be lonely and sad.

- One of the things that can help us believe in others is that love maintains faith in God's ability to work in an individual's life.