Today we look at the last four qualities of love found in I Cor. 13:4-7. Instead of examining these four individually I want to make three connecting statements about love. These three statements connect the four and give clarity since they are all interrelated.
The first statement is: Love has faith in other people.
Real love sees the best and believes the best in other people. It bears all, believes all, hopes all, and endures all.
Illustration: This quality was displayed by Barnabus when Saul was converted to faith in Christ. Saul had ravaged the members of the early church. He had encouraged and approved the brutal persecution of some of those early believers. One man, Stephen, was stoned to death, with permission from Saul. When Saul was converted the believers were skeptical of his conversion. I suspect they saw his conversion as a ploy to incite further persecute. Due to their skepticism they were reluctant to open their hearts to receive him into their Christian fellowship. Barnabus was not that way. He instantly became an advocate for Saul. He believed in giving a person a second chance.
Poem: Years ago I picked up a poem named “The Choice”. I do not know where I got it nor the author but it illustrates the importance of building others up. This poem raises the question of whether we will “tear down or build up.”
“I watched some men tearing a building down, a group of men in my home town. With a heave and a ho and a mighty yell, They swung the ball and a side wall fell. And I said to the foreman, are these men skilled, the type you’d hire if you want to build.
And he smiled, then laughed and said no indeed, common laborer is all I need. For we can tear down in a day or two, what it took a builder years to do.
As I turned, I shook my head, I knew there was truth in what he said.
And I thought to myself as I walked away, which of these roles am I going to play?
Am I a builder as I work with care, measuring life by the rule and square. Am I shaping my deeds to a well laid plan, carefully doing the best I can. Or am I a wrecker as I walk the town, content with the labor of tearing down.
Exercising faith in other people means we see the best in them but it also means we trust them. Jesus did this with His disciples. While He lived among them they were definitely a contrast. Some days they looked like super saints while on other days they looked like miserable failures. However, as Jesus prepared to leave earth and return to Heaven He assigned those disciples the task of spreading His name throughout the whole world. He trusted them.
Illustration: Several years ago I went with a group of men to an obstacle course in Northport. Some people call these a “ropes” course. The goal is for your group to move through a series of obstacles as you build trust and a spirit of team work. For me the most challenging obstacle is the “trust” platform. At this obstacle each person must take turns climbing up to a platform that is located 5 or 6 feet above ground level. Once you get on the platform you are to fold your arms, turn your back, and fall from the platform into the waiting arms of your friends. That requires a great deal of trust. That is what occurs in healthy relationships. We trust the other person with our lives.
I realize there are many factors that affect our ability to place faith in other people. Sometimes trust is abused. Sometimes trust is stolen. There was a horrible story on the evening news, this week, about a young lady who was sexually abused as a baby and into her elementary years. As a teenager she had trouble trusting. Sometimes trust is betrayed. There was a story in the news this week about another millionaire who betrayed trust through a financial scam.
A second general statement is: love displays a spirit of fortitude. Love bears all things. Love believes all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures all things.
Fortitude requires that we forbear with others. To forbear is to hold back or be tolerant. When we forbear we tolerate another person’s behavior.
- Have men call out items they must tolerate with their wives. (Example: too many pillows laying around)
- Have women call out items they must tolerate with their husbands. (Example: leaving things laying around)
- Have parents call out items they must tolerate with their teenagers. Example: a dirty room)
- Have teenagers call out items they must tolerate with their parents. (Example: too many rules)
Jesus is our example of forbearance. You will recall Jesus relationship with His disciples. He had to tolerate their unreliable behavior right up until He hung on the cross. We see this several times in the latter hours before the crucifixion. As He went to the garden to pray He instructed them to watch and pray. He left them behind as he walked into the garden for a time of private prayer. Upon His return He found them fast asleep. As He was being persecuted and tried, before going to the cross, the disciples showed their true colors. In the crucial moments when they could have spoken a positive word for Him they turned their backs and denied any knowledge of him. Yet He continued to believe in them.
The Bible encourages us to forbear. “Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” Eph. 4:2
Forbearance is a sign of love. Love will make up for our short-comings in other areas. Peter said ”And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." I Pet. 4:8
Fortitude requires that we display a spirit of steadfastness.
The word endure (Hupomenō (“to endure”) was a military term used of an army’s holding a vital position at all costs. Every hardship and every suffering was to be endured in order to hold fast.
Love holds fast… It endures all things at all costs. It stands against overwhelming opposition and refuses to stop bearing or stop believing or stop hoping. Love will not stop loving.
There is a beautiful picture of this in the movie “A Vow To Cherish.” This movie is about a successful business man whose wife develops alzheimer’s disease. The business man vows that he will be faithful to his wife through the tragedy of the disease.
I once read an encouraging story about an athlete from Tanzania named John Akhwari. John was chosen to represent his country in the 1968 Olympics. John was to run the marathon. While running the marathon John fell and sustained significant cuts and bruises. Medics bandaged his injuries and he continued to run. He finished the race long after the winner had been announced. A reporter asked John “Why did you continue the reace after you were so badly injured?”
John said “My country did not send me 7,000 miles to begin a race. They sent me to finish the race.”
(as told by Tommy Winstead. Stafford, Virginia)
Illustration: There is a beautiful poem that applies to this truth.
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sign,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
A third general statement is: love is victorious. There is a note of victory in each of these last four principles. Love bears all things. Love believes all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures all things. The note of victory rings out clearest in the summary statement found in verse 8, “love never fails.”
• Wouldn’t it be nice if we could invest in a stock that performs well every year? It never takes a dive. It always shows a profit.
• Wouldn’t’ it be nice if we could take a pill that is guaranteed to protect us against cancer.
• Wouldn’t it be nice to work for a company that offers nothing but positive benefits? We never get tired of our work. We never have any negative consequences.
• Wouldn’t it be nice to pull for a team that always wins? They never have a bad year. They never have a slump.
The Bible says love never fails. There is a victorious element in love. Some of you are one step ahead of me. You are thinking, I tried love and it failed. My marriage failed. I gave it my best effort but my marriage failed. My relationship with my boss failed. I gave it my best effort but this job did not work out. Sometimes we do our very best but our best is not good enough. So, how can you say “love is victorious?”
Love is victorious when you live your life focused on God’s love. When you live life focused on God’s love you will never go wrong. Let’s suppose a lady lives with an alcoholic husband. He is abusive. He is disgusting in his behavior. He wastes the family money on alcohol. He is impossible to live with. She has done her very best to love him and remain faithful to him. However, he leaves her for another woman. Has her love failed? Not at all! If you seek to exemplify God’s love you never go wrong. If that lady lives by the law of love her love will be victorious. Sometimes, somewhere, and someplace that ladies love will win out. That man will realize what a fool he has been. That man will be convicted by his failure. That man will be convicted by his sin.
Just because other people violate the law of love does not mean your love has failed. Love will always win out. Love will always be victorious. We sometimes measure success or failure by the way circumstances turn out. Circumstances do not dictate whether something is a success or failure.
When you live by God’s love you have a north star to follow. You live a principle centered life. Take Jesus as an example. Jesus lived a life of love. He never did anything wrong. He never spoke an unkind word. In spite of His goodness they hung Him on a cross. He was treated in a savage way. As He hung on the cross He was able to say “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” The law of love gives you a principle centered life. You live for God’s glory. You live to reflect the love of Jesus to others. Our lives should be principle centered. When that is the case, love is victorious. Love will be victorious. In any relationship the ultimate goal should be living to honor God. Our primary goal is not living to honor our husband or wife. Our primary goal is not living to honor other people. Our primary goal is living to honor God.
When you live by the law of love you live with your eyes on Jesus Christ. People may let you down but he does not. People may fail but he does not. What if you have given up? What if you threw in the towel? These fifteen qualities of love ultimately refer to Jesus Christ. He is the only one who ever fulfilled all fifteen. He has not given up hope with you. He still believes in you. There are two verses of scripture that come to mind.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” Heb. 12:1-2
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord.” I Cor. 15:58
We tend to associate victory with our performance, our circumstances, and our behavior. If that is the case we will never experience victory. However, victory comes when we focus our lives on God’s love and God’s truth.
