The Love Test – Part 2

Review: The trials of life will test God’s love in you.

· God values relationships above all.

· First – your relationship to HIM

· Second – your relationship to OTHERS

Do you expose others? (1 Cor 13:7a)

1 Corinthians 13:7a NLT

7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:7a (AMP)

Love BEARS all things [regardless of what comes]

AMP – 7a Love bears up under anything and everything that comes

NLT – love never gives up

Bears = 4722 στέγω [stego /steg·o/]

· to protect, to preserve

· to hide faults of others – (today many expose them!)

o examples – fault shaming, public shaming, fat shaming, political shaming, etc.

o shaming in YouTube videos, write books and blogs about them

o it’s one thing to be informed, its another to go on a personal crusade, take matters into your own hands

· by covering to keep off something which threatens, to bear up against, hold out against, and so endure, bear, forbear.[1]

Example = Noah’s three sons –

· two protected and covered Noah’s shame, but Ham told others and was cursed! He became the father of many of the enemy nations of God that were driven from the Promised Land by the nation of Israel.

· Gossip bears bad children!

Life Lesson: Biblical love (through covering) is not enabling.

You don’t know what people go through

· Examples - Health problems, physical issues, financial situation, family challenges, trauma and crisis, emergencies, spiritual attack, especially in leadership, pruning of the Lord.

· By judging through exposure, you make yourself vulnerable to failure – possibly through the same trap or temptation. (Gal 6:1)

· God is not mocked – we reap what we sow (Gal 6:7)

· Gossip – is discussing any topic you cannot help with – or does not directly concern/affect/involve you

· You can tell what you really think about a person when you hear a rumor about them.

Life Lesson: There is never an EXCUSE for wrongdoing, but there are REASONS.

Love IS the Answer

· Instead, of exposing, the child of God is expected to HELP the person – go to them, talk to them, give helpful advice, pay for professional referrals, help take some of the load off them,

· BEAR one another’s burdens – fulfill the law of Christ – Gal 6:2

… at ALL TIMES

All = G3956 πᾶς [pas /pas/]

· all things, all people, all the time, the whole world – Everyone, Whosoever, daily,

Don’t be a Fairweather friend

· People need you when they need you, it is not always convenient for you.

· Good times, bad times, whether they get rich or take a hit, win or lose, popular or not, hero or zero.

Do you look for the best in others? (1 Cor 13:7b)

1 Corinthians 13:7b (AMP)

(Love) BELIEVES all things [looking for the best in each one]

Amp – 7b Love is ever ready to believe the best of every person

NLT – love never loses faith

NIV 84 – love always protects

Believes = G4100 πιστεύω [pisteuo /pist·yoo·o/] [2]

· To be committed unto

· To trust – to think to be true – to give credit, to place confidence in,

· My definition - Default to the positive. (the benefit of the doubt).

· Do you assume the best in people? Or do you keep your guard up just in case?

· Have you been let down so many times that you have become more cynical in certain areas?

o Examples – new hire, relative you have been praying for, even the 6 o’clock news in general!

LOOK for the best =

· Some people may have fewer good qualities than bad!

· Looking is a Conscious effort = it may require you to

o Search like a coast Guard pilot for a boat in the ocean at night

o dig for them like a needle in a haystack

The bad news: Each of us are flawed!

The good news: God has a plan for each of us! – redeem, restore, change, grow, reach others.

Look in EACH one –

· love looks for the best in each area:

o person, day, opportunity, area, job, ministry, church, coworker, neighbor, politician

· Family member – child, sibling, relative, in-law, aunts, uncles, parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, grandparents, cousins, half-sisters, stepbrothers,

Looking Takes work –

· more for some than others

· don’t skip past the hard ones! It’s easy to love the lovable.

· You can tell how much of the love of Christ you have in you by how much you can love ALL people!

· Worldly love is selective love, but godly love is universal love!

· Love looks for the best in every race, both genders, political party, nationality, language, generation, regardless

Review question - Do you look for the best in people?

Hagin –

Natural human love is ever ready to believe the worst about every person! I’ve traveled across this country for many years in the ministry, and it’s amazing what you hear about this preacher and that preacher, this person and that person, this singer and that singer. I don’t pay the least bit of attention to any of those stories. I don’t believe a word of them. I believe the best of everyone.

ESV Study Bible – “Love believes the best of others and hopes the best for them.”[3]

Are you steadfast in difficulty? (1 Corinthians 13:7c)

1 Corinthians 13:7c (AMP)

(Love) HOPES all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times]

Amp - its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances

NLT – love is always hopeful

NIV 84 – love always trusts

HOPES = G1679 ἐλπίζω [elpizo /el·pid·zo/] v[4]

· trust

Do you endure without weakening? (1 Corinthians 13:7d)

1 Corinthians 13:7d (AMP)

(Love) ENDURES all things [without weakening]

Amp – 7d Endures everything

NLT – love endures through every circumstance

NIV 84 – love perseveres always

Endures = 5278 ἀπομένω, ὑπομένω [hupomeno /hoop·om·en·o/][5]

· take patiently

· Not to reseed or flee

· to preserve: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ. 2b to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments

perseveres = (hypomenei, “remains steadfast in the face of unpleasant circumstances”; cf. 9:19–22).

How is your endurance?

· Do you last for a short while and then give up if you do not see certain results in a certain time?

Love Never Fails! (1 Corinthians 13:8a)

1 Corinthians 13:8a (AMP)

Love NEVER FAILS [it never fades nor ends] …

AMP – 8a Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]

NLT = love will last forever

ENDS = G4098 πίπτω, συμπίπτω [pipto /pip·to/][6]

· fall down - descend from a higher place to a lower

· end = disappear, cease, perish

· fail – lose authority, no longer have force, fail of participating in

Love never fails to try!

Call to Action: Look for the Best, even while Enduring the Worst

Practical steps to protect your heart:

· turn off the news

· default to the positive