Love Is Trusting | 1 Corinthians 13:7

Scripture

• 1 Corinthians 13:7

About this sermon

We have made the point that love is more than words and more than emotions. Love is practical, love takes action. But that doesn’t mean that love doesn’t require action IN OUR INNER MAN. Love is not just demonstrated by how we BEHAVE toward a person. Love is also demonstrated by how we CHOOSE TO THINK about a person. That makes authentic love something very searching, and something that only the Holy Spirit of God can enable us to walk in. HUMAN BEINGS HAVE THE CAPACITY TO GIVE THE APPEARANCE OF LOVE. ONLY THE SPIRIT OF GOD CAN GIVE US THE CAPACITY TO LIVE OUT THE LOVE OF GOD AT THE HEART LEVEL. The quality that we examine today demonstrates this, because it gets to the heart of how we think and feel toward another person, or how we think and feel in the midst of trying times. I would remind us that what we see in this list is the truth. We might contend that we are really walking in love when our thoughts, attitudes, or actions are contrary to what we find here, but the final word on the matter is God’s word. If we want to know whether we are really walking in love, then we must take an honest look at a list like this. Someone has said of this section, “It is not a lyric, it is a lance.” It is poetic, it is lyrical, but it cuts us open and exposes the evil that is in our hearts so that the Lord might cleanse us and change us. I. THE MEANING OF “BELIEVES ALL THINGS” We begin with the meaning of this quality. As we said last time, “all things” must be understood to refer to all things that ACCORD WITH GODLINESS. As far as we can go within the bounds of godliness, that is how far we must be willing to travel. Love does not require us to be naïve. Love does not require us to be gullible or without discernment. BUT IT IS SACRIFICIAL. John Calvin captured it well: Love believeth all things — not that the Christian knowingly and willingly allows himself to be imposed upon — not that he divests himself of prudence and judgment, that he may be the more easily taken advantage of — not that he unlearns the way of distinguishing black from white. What then? He requires here, as I have already said, simplicity and kindness in judging of things; and he declares that these691 are the invariable accompaniments of love. The consequence will be, that a Christian man will reckon it better to be imposed upon by his own kindness and easy temper, than to wrong his brother by an unfriendly suspicion. The Christian man would rather be taken advantage of by thinking in terms of kindness and faith, than to wrong someone by not trusting them. And with that, Calvin got to the heart of it. To say that love believes all things is to say that it is the temperament of true love to believe the best, to operate in a spirit of trust. It does not mean that love suspends all judgment, but it does mean that love is not judgmental. To believe all things means: LOVE IS NOT SUSPICIOUS — SUSPECTING THE WORST LOVE IS NOT CYNICAL — EXPECTING THE WORST We are not walking in God’s love when we impose, when we imagine, evil motives or impure ambitions as we consider another person. I believe there is an additional element contained in this quality. LOVE IS BELIEVING WITH RESPECT TO GOD’S ABILITY IN A PERSON’S LIFE. That is, love looks upon a person — not only for what they currently are, but for what God can make them by His grace and power. II. THE MANIFESTATIONS OF LOVE’S TRUST Now, how does this quality manifest itself in our everyday lives? How do we live this out? A. A LOVING PERSON TRUSTS OTHERS BECAUSE OF FAITH IN GOD If you ask why people are suspicious and why they become cynical, it is often in the interest of self-protection.

Topics

• Faith
• Love & Compassion