Love Bears and Believes All

Corinth was a port city known for commercial prosperity. But that prosperity led them to evil living. Even the word korinthiazesthai, or “to live like a Corinthian” became a part of the Greek language and meant to live with drunken or immoral debauchery.

Unfortunately, the sinful lifestyle didn’t stop with unbelievers. The Corinthian church was full of disunity. Paul spends the first 4 chapters of the book dealing with disunity and the next 2 chapters addressing pride’s leading to sin. In chapter 7 he turns to addressing some of the specific problems in the Corinthian Church.

Chapters 12-14 address the spiritual gifts. Some in the church thought they were “more spiritual” than another group because they had the gift of speaking in tongues. They were so obsessed with their spiritual gifts that they were in danger of losing their love. Their wonderful gifts are spoiled by their impatient, unkind, jealous and boastful behaviour. Paul finds them proud, rude, self-seeking, quick to lose their tempers, and slow to forgive and forget.

Paul begs the Corinthians to rediscover love and count it the most important gift of all. In chapter 14, he outlines the best way forward. Spiritual gifts must be used with love, for the benefit of others both inside and outside the church. Even the greatest gift is worth nothing if it isn’t received and used with love.

In the first three verses of chapter 13, Paul takes the gifts of which the Corinthians are so proud—and inflates them to amazing proportions. Imagine a gift of tongues which includes every language in earth and heaven, a gift of prophecy that expounds all the knowledge in the universe or a gift of faith that can tell even mountains to move …

Paul says that even these sensational gifts will be nothing without love. If we don’t have love, our gift is worthless.

In verses 4-7 Paul goes through the characteristics of love before addressing the permanence of love in verses 8 and following.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

1 Corinthians 13:1–7 KJV 1900

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Let’s Pray

So, tonight we are looking at the first half of 1 Corinthians 13:7

1 Corinthians 13:7 (KJV 1900)

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Love Bears All Things

The Greek word, stegō, translated here as “beareth” appears only four times in scripture - twice in 1 Corinthians and twice in 1 Thessalonians.

Since the best way to understand a word is to look at the other contexts where that word is used, let’s look at 1 Corinthians 9:12

1 Corinthians 9:12 (KJV 1900)

If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

Both uses of stegō in 1 Thessalonians are found in chapter 3 and actually show the negative side of the word. They are both translated forbear.

1 Thessalonians 3:1–5 (KJV 1900)

Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know. For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.

In other words, when Paul couldn’t stand it any longer, they let go Timothy to the Thessalonians.

This word translated “forbear,” “suffer,” and “beareth” in 1 Corinthians 13 has the idea of holding fast like a watertight vessel. Its It’s like a water balloon filled almost to bursting but still holding all the water inside. Love that bears all things endures without divulging - without speaking of what it has to bear.

It is just possible that this may mean ‘love can cover anything’, in the sense that it will never drag into the light of day the faults and mistakes of others. It would far rather set about quietly mending things than publicly displaying and rebuking them. Some have taken this faulty interpretation to support hiding the sin of another who seems to be repentant. That’s not loving or biblical.

More likely, it means that love can bear any insult, any injury, any disappointment. It describes the kind of love that was in the heart of Jesus himself.

A. Forbearance

Maybe you’ve heard the term forbearance before. Forbearance is like patience or self-control. When a loan is in forbearance it means that there’s a temporary postponement of loan payments. God shows forbearance when He holds back judgement that the world deserves.

Exodus 32:9-14 shows a wonderful example of this.

Exodus 32:9–14 KJV 1900

And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

God was tired of their shenanigans but, God showed the Israelites forbearance by holding off their judgment. They were given another chance to repent. Eventually, time would run out for them. Numbers 32:11-12

Numbers 32:11–12 KJV 1900

Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.

In Romans we read

Romans 2:4 KJV 1900

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Here, forbearance refers to God’s mercy, kindness, and longsuffering in delaying rightful judgment. Paul warns mankind not to take God’s delay in dealing with sin as a sign that He is uninterested or that man is innocent. Paul warns us not to be hasty in judging others since God will judge everyone someday.

We can show forbearance when we allow love to endure, to “bear all things.” Practicing forbearance in real life can look like this...

...a wife lovingly picking her husband’s towel off the floor... for the thousandth time.

…a boy opening his lunch box and realizing that Dad forgot that he doesn’t like bologna sandwiches but deciding not to tell him and just eat the sandwich.

… a woman lovingly reminding a man with dementia that she is in fact his daughter.

Forbearance is letting the love we have for another person cover the inconvenience or pain an action has caused us without ever discussing it with them.

Forbearance requires us to internalize that action, redefine it as something less than it was, and move on from that action as if nothing ever happened. All of this is possible because of the Christlike love that bears all things.

Now, what happens when we can’t move on? When that hurt keeps exerting itself in our lives over and over again? In those moments, we can be loving by going to that person who caused us wrong and bringing it to their attention.

Matthew 18:15 KJV 1900

Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

Yes, this is in the context of church discipline. But, I think sometimes we forget that this first step is something that can easily help to reestablish fellowship with someone in our lives. Rather than festering and becoming bitter over something (that the other person likely has no idea is bothering you) go to that person and talk it out with them. Not only does that prioritize your relationship with that person, but more importantly it prioritizes your relationship with God.

While we’re in this arena, let’s talk a little bit about forgiveness.

B. Forgiveness

Forgiveness is an outpouring of love that endures anything. There are no lasting relationships without forgiveness. We are people who mess up and hurt each other. Relationships don’t develop strength and longevity because two people always agree or get along well. Instead, they survive because forgiveness is the glue that overcomes the unavoidable offenses that occur in a fallen world.

In Matthew 18:21-22 we read

Matthew 18:21 (KJV 1900)

Matthew 18:21 KJV 1900

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

The teaching of the Pharisees was that we should forgive someone 3 times. Maybe Peter was a little proud of himself for increasing that to 7 times! But Christ responds by saying Matthew 18:22

Matthew 18:22 KJV 1900

Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

As you know, the point isn’t that we have to forgive somebody 490 times and then we’re done. The point is that we should forgive always - every single time.

Forgiveness is the decision to release a person from the obligation that resulted when he or she injured you.

When you injure a person, whether knowingly or unknowingly, you create an obligation . You take something from that person —such as his time, money, pride, or dignity. And if you take something from your brother then you owe him. For the hurt and injured party, the legitimacy of his claim should be acknowledged before the necessity of forgiveness is discussed.

A true apology isn’t simply “I’m sorry.” A true apology will always acknowledge that we have done them wrong.

Sometimes we think that forgiveness means that nobody pays for the wrong that was committed. but, the truth is that if you take something from someone and he forgives you, he is making the costly decision to release you. In his forgiveness, he is covering the debt you owe.

If pastor did give me a blank check, and let’s say it wasn’t a gift but a loan. I made that check out for half a million bucks to go buy my new house and fill it with all kinds of crazy things. Well, now I’ve got a house and all kinds of stuff… just no money to pay back my loan. If pastor were to forgive the loan, he doesn’t get the money back. Instead, pastor, the forgiving person is absorbing the debt, covering it, and forgoing what is due him. He releases the offender (me) from what I owe.

That moment of asking forgiveness is just the crisis moment. But that’s not when forgiveness is over. Forgiveness is a process rooted in love that bears all things.

That process of forgiveness results in the forgiver needing to train his mind to think differently. The person who was hurt must not bring up the offense 1) to the offender, 2) to others, or 3) to himself. If we fail in this then we start spinning back towards unforgiveness. That’s not the fault of the person that originally caused the offense. That’s our own fault because we shifted the interaction about the offense from between the two of us to between God and us. We have to pray and confess our unwillingness to forgive as sin to God.

Aren’t we thankful that God doesn’t resend on his promise to forgive us our sins? We fail God over and over again. Yet, he is still loving and faithful to forgive us our sins. Christ took that wrong we caused onto himself and paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be forgiven and have a relationship with God.

Let’s look back at our text in 1 Corinthians 13:7

1 Corinthians 13:7 KJV 1900

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Love bears all things and believes all things.

Love Believes All Things

Love goes beyond simply bearing the wrongs of others. It puts the best possible outlook on something. Now, this doesn’t mean that love isn’t naive. Love unsuspiciously believes all that is not palpably false.

A. In Relation to Others

This characteristic has a twofold aspect. In relation to our fellow men and women, it means that love always believes the best about other people.

John Calivn said “Not that a Christian should knowingly and willingly suffer himself to be imposed upon; not that he should deprive himself of prudence and judgment, so that he may be the more easily deceived; but that he should esteem it better to be deceived by his kindness and gentleness of heart, than to injure his brother by needless suspicion.”

When Thomas Arnold became headmaster of Rugby School in 1828, he instituted a completely new way of doing things. Before he arrived, school had been a terror and a tyranny. Arnold called the boys together and told them that there was going to be much more liberty and much less ﬂogging. ‘You are free,’ he said, ‘but you are responsible—you are gentlemen. I intend to leave you much to yourselves, and put you upon your honour, because I believe that if you are guarded and watched and spied upon, you will grow up knowing only the fruits of servile fear; and when your liberty is ﬁnally given you, as it must be some day, you will not know how to use it.’ The boys found it difﬁcult to believe. When they were brought before him, they continued to make the old excuses and to tell the old lies. ‘Boys,’ he said, ‘if you say so, it must be true—I believe your word.’ The result was that there came a time in Rugby when boys said: ‘It is a shame to tell Arnold a lie—he always believes you.’ He believed in them, and he made them what he believed them to be. Love can make honourable even the dishonourable by believing the best.

B. In Relation to God

The second characteristic is in relation to God, it means that love takes God at his word, and can take every promise which begins ‘Whoever’ and say: ‘That means me.’

When others fail us, love trusts that promises like Romans 8:28 are true. That God is sovereignly in control of all the circumstances we face.

Love that believes all things puts the most favorable construction on every thing. And when it can no longer believe well, it hopes whatever may excuse or extenuate the fault which cannot be denied. And where it cannot even excuse, it hopes God will at length give repentance unto life for that individual.

Conclusion

Love that bears all things and believes all things ultimately rests in who God is. The Triune God is the perfect example of love for us.

1 Corinthians 13 is one of the most famous chapters in the bible. It has been printed on cards and posters and read aloud at many weddings.

Some people like to read the name of Jesus instead of love to convey the beauty of Christ’s character. It can also be challenging to us to add our own name instead of reading love as a means of revealing our selfish hearts.

Oh what our church would be like if we took to heart the words of 1 Corinthians 13!

As we close, I have one final thought for you. Today is July 27th. I challenge you to read 1 Corinthians 13 with me every day for the next 5 weeks. That would bring us to August 31st. What could God do to your relationships with others and with him if we focused daily focused on these truths. Get someone else to do it with you too! If you take this challenge, and complete it, I’d love to hear how meditating on these truths of love impacts your life!