Love always hopes

What does it mean that love always hopes?  In 1 Corinthians 13:7, we find four things that love “always” does. Love is not just an idea…it is an action.  The third action in this verse is that love always hopes.  Love is always hopeful.  In the Greek language, “hope” is from elpidzo, meaning ‘to hope or wait for salvation with joy and full confidence.”  This word, hope, is used 32 times in the New Testament alone.  Hope expresses more than a wish or a desire, but a confident belief in the unseen.  Hebrews 11:1 says,”Faith is being sure of the things we hope for and being certain of what we cannot see.”  Faith, hope and love are often connected in the Bible.  In Colosians 1:4-5, they are combined again: “We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in Heaven.”

Just as God is called “Love,” Jesus is called our “Hope.”  He is the Hope within us. And the hope that will be seen by others around us.  If we are living in such a way—with such a hopeful attitude—then we will reflect the way of Jesus and bring glory to His Father.

Part of showing love is hoping, and part of hoping is seeing the good in others. If we treat others as they should be treated, then we have a part in helping them become who they should be.  As moms, we are always encouraging our children and showing them that there is hope in such a hard world.  If you have ever been in a job loss situation, what got you through?   Was it hope in Jesus, believing that at some point He would rain blessings down on you if you could just hold on long enough.  Hope holds on long enough.  Have you ever had a horrible medical diagnosis, maybe one that was a sure death sentence? What if you went ahead, planned your funeral, told your kids goodbye and moved away? That, to me, is life without hope.  Hope believes that Jesus has a miracle that is waiting just for them.

What about when you accepted Jesus as your Savior?  You had hope that His death would save you from all your sins and that you would live eternally with Him in Heaven. Without hope, where would we be? I’ve known many alcoholics and addicts.  They cling to the hope that one day they will be clean and stay sober.  Hope helps us bear the unbearable, my friends.  To a Christian, hope is the knowledge that we are being changed for the better as we trust in God’s promises.

The Bible is full of examples of men and women who hoped in God’s promises.  The patriarch Abraham is a model of hope for believers.  When he was 75 years old, God promised to bless him with many descendants, as many as there were stars. Abraham believed what he heard. Yet he had to wait another 25 years to see his hope fulfilled. Never once did he doubt God Almighty.  His hope wasn’t in his own ability to have a child at this old age, but he trusted an unchangeable God—the same God we worship today. Hebrews 6:19 describes this hope as “…an anchor for the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast.”

You may be thinking to yourself, “How did Abraham stay hopeful for that long?” And perhaps, “How can you stay hopeful for what you need?”  The Bible says that Abraham was a friend of God.  He was also His servant. He stayed obedient and God gave him what he needed. You can do it too.  How you ask?

1. Submit yourself to God.  He is the source of your hope.  He alone.

2. Strengthen your faith. Let the previous blessings that He has given you remind you of the Blesser.

3. Trust His timing. Sometimes He answers our prayers and gives us what we hope for quickly and other times He allows us to wait. Through faith and patience, Abraham’s hope was fulfilled.

4. Thank God today.  Though it is hard to rejoice as we wait for hopes to be fulfilled, rejoicing opens the heavens for blessings to rain down. (Romans 5:1-5)

Have you lost hope? You can have it again, you know. Right now, turn to Him Who is able to do so much more than we could or would ever ask and ever hope for, and rest in Him. He knows and He never goes back on His word.

Love always perseveres

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Persevere defined, means to bear up under pressure.  It’s a military term meaning that an army must hold a vital position at ALL costs. In fact, love must mean perseverance or you shouldn’t say it unless you are willing to give all, to develop, to protect and keep that love.

When we say “I love you,” it not only means forever but it means also that we will fight anything that would get in the way of that love lasting!  Anything else is not love.  At the end of the passage above, we see love stand against overwhelming opposition as it bears all things, believes all things and hopes all things. Perseverance is the unending climax of love.  It is always on high alert and never stops fighting for the relationship.

Oh yes, the father of lies has his say and we may have some obstacles thrown at us; well… let’s say we will have some lies thrown at us.  And lies will be whispered to us like, “Love shouldn’t be this hard!” or “Love should be effortless!” or “Love is tolerance.”  Friends, this is a recipe for disaster and very un-loving relationships.  Love doesn’t just let people do what they want to do, and love doesn’t just care about happiness of the other person. Love has to make some hard choices sometimes and has to say hard things.  Our society leans more towards “God just wants me to be happy.” and gives up at the first sign of trouble. I want to give you some examples from Scripture of real, persevering love. We will start with Hosea.

• The book of Hosea was written by the prophet and it tells a larger story of the Israelites unfaithfulness to God. It begins with Hosea marrying a prostitute and she becomes unfaithful to him, of course, and leaves him. He goes from house to house to find her and buys her back for 15 shekels of silver and some barley, a large amount. His love for his wife was a persevering love, never giving up.
• Next is Stephen. In Acts chapter 7, Stephen is attempting to reason with the Jews and persuading them to trust in Jesus as their Savior. We all know how this ends— with them dragging him out of the city and stoning him to death.  As he is breathing his last breath, he cries out to the Lord, saying,”Lord, do not hold their sins against them.”  Even in dying, Stephen showed persevering love by reaching out to those who were killing him. He was more concerned with their salvation and knowing Jesus as their Savior than he was for his own life.
• Then there is Jesus.  Jesus went to the Cross because He loves you with a persevering love like no other.  He took the sins of all mankind on Himself, so that we would be forgiven through our faith in Him.  And God your Father loves you with an everlasting love. Nothing you can do or say will ever separate you from Him.  There is no sin so great that can’t be forgiven.  If you are here today and you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, I encourage you to ask Him in your heart today. Tell Him you know you’re a sinner. Confess it to Him and ask for His forgiveness. It is free. You will forever be changed and will live eternally with Him. Oh, yes—there will still be some trials and things you won’t like, but He overcame this world. Romans 8:35 says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” The love of Jesus perseveres through any hardship that may come your way!  No matter the circumstance you find yourself in, there is nothing that can separate us from Jesus.  His love perseveres through it all.  And this should be our example to follow…to love others in the same way.  So now when you say love, you mean that you will fight to the end for them!  As Jesus did for us….

Let us pray:

Lord, we praise You and thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your Son to die in our place, so that we may live with You forever.  Oh Lord, we, on our own, cannot love as You have commanded, and without first loving You, we cannot love like You ask us to love each other.  Please give us the desire and fill us with the kind of love that only You can give, that it will be overflowing from us to all who know us and may we never grow tired of spreading the good news of You.  If we love each other, then we want the world to have what we have, and that is You. And for those who have accepted You today for the first time, may we keep discipling them and may they truly begin to walk closely with You.  How exciting to finally be alive! Be with us as we carry the message to this dying world.  In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen