It\u2019s that all-too-familiar verse that fits nicely in an Instagram square with watercolor flowers embroidering its edges — \u201cLove bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:7).<\/p>\n
Yes, one of those verses that\u2019s often pulled out of context and overused. And yet, it\u2019s a verse I find myself returning to often for instruction and comfort.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to think about bearing a burden for a short time or a season, and it certainly makes it easier when you have an end in sight, a date of relief. But when the season lasts days, or months, or years, the call to bear all things quickly tests our ability to \u201cbelieve all things, hope all things\u201d and \u201cendure all things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The apostle Paul was a man acquainted with sorrow like our Lord. He pressed on in faith and hoped against hope and endured with patience. He knew well the order of love — bearing, believing, hoping, enduring.<\/p>\n
We do not endure trials or suffering for the sake of enduring, not even for the sake of faith. Christ said the greatest commandment is not \u201cto muster your faith in God\u201d or \u201cjust be patient.\u201d No, the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37). It is why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, \u201cSo now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.\u201d<\/p>\n
In prolonged seasons of burden-bearing, I have returned multiple times to this passage. I consider Paul often as an example of one who loved Christ and His bride, the church, bearing all things. Christ calls us to love Him, to submit to Him, to suffer with Him, and we are called to love His church, to bear one another\u2019s burdens, to suffer long and exercise Christian charity to one another. What a joyous gift it is to have others bear all things with you and to have brothers and sisters who love you.<\/p>\n
Bearing with one another is not easy, though. Our sins, like potholes on a smooth road, mar our efforts to live righteous lives. It\u2019s easier to walk away from relationships than it is to reconcile them. Praise be to God, He did not see us as something to be done away with, but children to be reconciled to Himself. Christ told His disciples that their love for one another would tell the world that they were followers of Christ.<\/p>\n
A way to measure your own love for the Lord, your love for the church and your community is to consider how well you bear all things:
\n \u2022 Do you strive always for reconciliation?<\/p>\n
\u2022 Do you care enough to share hard truths with a brother or sister?<\/p>\n
\u2022 Are you willing to listen, consider and respond to a brother or sister with grace?<\/p>\n
\u2022 Do you extend the benefit of the doubt, or judge harshly?<\/p>\n
\u2022 Do you walk away when things get hard or do you press into community and relationships with resolve?
\nFaith may move mountains and hope may produce character and patience, but without love they are meaningless. When the strong winds come and the waters rise, what compels you to believe without faltering, hope against hope and endure the tempestuous journey that is faith? Co-laborers, let us love one another well — bearing all things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s that all-too-familiar verse that fits nicely in an Instagram square with watercolor flowers embroidering its edges — \u201cLove bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:7). Yes, one of those verses that\u2019s often pulled out of context and overused. And yet, it\u2019s a verse I find myself […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5238,5119,90],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7349\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}