Choose Love (33 page)

I
can’t put up with this anymore.” “I just can’t bear it any longer.” “I can’t believe it’s ever going to happen.” “I don’t believe things will ever change.” “I have lost hope that this person will ever be any different.” “What I have hoped for is too long in coming.” “I can’t endure another minute of this.” “I can’t keep going on this way.”

Have you ever found yourself saying or thinking these kinds of thoughts about anyone or any situation? I know I have. More times than I care to admit. But that was back when I was trying to do life all in my own strength and not relying totally on God.

God
is the only one who can give us the strength and stamina to bear up under the weight we are carrying.
He
is the only one who gives us the faith to believe for important things once we first believe in
Him
.
He
is the only one who gives us hope when we put our hope in
Him
and we put our expectations in
Him
.
He
is the only one who sustains us with perseverance so we can endure what we are facing.

The Bible says the kind of love we need to have is the kind that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). But we can’t do these things on our own. In fact, we were not created to do them by ourselves. Our
shoulders were not built to carry this load. God knows if we have a heart that is surrendered enough to Him to rely on His help.

After Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to those who believed in Him. Jesus said, “When the
Helper
comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father
, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit is our
helper
and
comforter.
He is our
counselor
and
teacher.
He helps us to do what we cannot do on our own. He is the one who enables us to bear, believe, hope, and endure all things.

Love Bears All Things

What does it mean to bear all things? It means to uphold the things
God
has called you to sustain. He has not called you to bear everyone’s every burden—all your family members, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and people you hear about. You can’t do it. God doesn’t want you trying to be God to other people. He—by the power of His Holy Spirit in you—will help you to bear all the things He has
called you
to do. He has not called you to be Santa Claus to everyone.

God calls us to bear one another’s burdens, and one of the best ways to do this is in prayer. Heartfelt prayer that lifts the concerns of others for whom you sense a burden to pray is always God’s will. We have all heard people say,
Well, all I can do is pray.
But the truth is, that is actually the
best
thing you can do. You should always start there and then do the other things He is leading you to do. When you lift up your concerns about others to God in prayer, ask Him what
He
wants you to do.

We don’t need to get crazy about this. If we see a child about to run into the street where cars are driving by, we don’t have to pray first to see if we should reach out and grab her. God has given us a brain, good sense, and the wisdom to make an immediate call on that.

Other words and phrases for “bear” as used in this context are
suffer, put up with, overlook, lend support, maintain, sustain, uphold,
undergird, bolster up, shore up, prop up, spare no effort, to go all out, endeavor to do one’s best, sustain, maintain, back up, undergird the foundation of, cradle, and cushion.

Ask God to show you where you might be trying to do any of these things on your own. You may be surprised at what He shows you and how He can enable you to do it without stress.

Love Believes All Things

Believing all things means believing for the best in other people. Believing that God has a great plan for their life—and yours. Believing that God will work things out for their good—and yours. Believing that God will answer your prayers for them—and you. It means you do not
expect
the worst for others or for yourself. Nor do you
suspect
the worst in them and you are not suspicious of them.

Other words and phrases for “believe” as it is used in this context are
expect, conclude, be inclined to think the best of someone, believe the best in, have confidence in, give the benefit of the doubt, give credence to, trust, assured, certainty, reliance on, acceptance, suspension of disbelief, confidence in, and sureness.

Only God can help us do all these things, especially with regard to believing for the best in people as a sign of our love for them.

Love Hopes All Things

To hope all things means we put our hope in the
Lord.
And because of that we have hope that He is working in the lives of the people for whom we pray. It means we don’t give up on people and write them off. For the worst offenders, we release them to God and ask Him to work in their heart and bring them to their knees before Him. When we do that, we are assured that they have a good future ahead.

Hope is one of the three things that last, along with faith and love, “but
the greatest of these is love
” (1 Corinthians 13:13). In the end, when we are with the Lord in heaven, we will no longer need
faith because faith will become sight. We will no longer need hope because all our hope will be fulfilled. But we will always have love, because God is love and we will be with Him.

Other words and phrases for “hope” are
cheerful expectation, state of expectancy, anticipation, prospect, likelihood, probability, presumption, certainty, trust, put one’s trust in, anticipate, envision, looking forward to, looked for, hoped for, long awaited, expected, promised, and imminent.

All this means you cheerfully expect the best in people and can predict a good future for them. It means you have reason to believe that the best is yet to come because you have prayed for them. You anticipate good things from them, and you are on the lookout for good things
in
them and
for
them.

Ask God to give you the hope in Him you need for the seemingly hopeless situations and people you see around you. He will do that by putting the lasting hope in your heart that you need.

Love Endures All Things

Before I say anything else, let’s get something straight. Enduring all things does not mean you allow someone to abuse you. A woman does not allow herself to be hurt, mistreated, beaten, or damaged by her husband or potential future husband. And you do not allow anyone to violate you in any way. Ever. That is not of the Lord. It is never His will for you. And anyone who tells you otherwise is aligned with evil, and you need to remove yourself from that person immediately.

Enduring all things means you are willing to go the extra mile with someone. You are persisting in the situation, and you are summoning your most patient self to go the distance to see them through their difficult situation.

Other words and phrases for “endure” as it is used here are
persevere, persist, carry on, keep on, keep trying, keep up the good work, last, continue, abide, dwell, hold on, stay the course, go the distance,
prevail, last long, live to fight another day, love through, and stand the test of time.

You cannot be all things to all people. You can only be what God enables you to be for the people He puts on your heart and brings into your life.

James said, “We count them blessed who endure” (James 5:11). He is talking about enduring until the coming of the Lord. It means we don’t give up and end it all. Or withdraw from loving others because of the chance they will only disappoint us. We continue to do what God is calling us to do and love others as He is leading us.

Prayer of Love

L
ORD
, help me to
bear
all things when it comes to loving others. I know You will not call me to go beyond what I can bear because it is You who calls me and sustains me. Uphold me so I have strength to help others and stand with them as they go through trials. Help me to
believe
all things by suspending any disbelief I have in me regarding others. If I cannot believe for the best in them, I can believe for
Your
best for them. Help me to encourage them as You have encouraged me.

Lord, help me to
hope
all things for others because my hope for them is in You. Just as I never suspend my hope in You, help me to not lose hope in other people either. Help me to not write people off who have disappointed me or seem to never respond to the hope You have for them. I have courage because I know You will strengthen my heart because my hope is in You (Psalm 31:24).

Lord, enable me to
endure
the things You have called me to as a sign of love for others. Help me to persevere in prayer for them and encourage them to stay true to You and Your Word and the promises You have given us all. Help me to keep going and trying again after someone has rejected Your love and mine. Help me to go the distance with the ones You have instructed me to do so. I don’t want to be a person who only endures for a while (Matthew 13:21). I want to stay the course with You so I can stay the course with others to whom You lead me to reveal Your love.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

Words of Love

Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

H
EBREWS
12:3

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

1 P
ETER
3:15

We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

R
OMANS
5:3-5

After he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

H
EBREWS
6:15

Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

M
ATTHEW
21:22

21

How Can I Show Love in Every Situation?

L
ove never fails.

That’s what it says in the love chapter.

But we have seen human love toward us fail. Fail to materialize. Fail to go the distance. Fail to believe for the best in us. Fail to be kind. We’ve seen our own love toward others fail at times too.

Only
God’s
love never fails.

In order for
our
love to never fail, it needs to be established on God’s love first. His love in us never fails because His Spirit of love is in us. And
He
never fails. God can’t fail to be who He is. So it’s
our
job to see to it that we draw close to Him every day in prayer and worship and in reading His love letter to us.

We also have to ask God to guide us in all things—especially pertaining to showing love to others. It’s not that we need to ask God
if
we are to show His love. We must inquire of Him
what
the loving thing to do is in each situation and each person or group of people.

First of all, you can show love in every situation simply by asking God to help you
not
show a
lack
of love in any possible way. (Remember
chapter 17
about revealing a lack of love?) In some places that alone would be a great testimony to the greatness of God, not to mention a shock to those who are not used to that.

Let the Holy Spirit Lead You to Do God’s Will

Jesus said doing God’s will was like food to Him (John 4:34). It must become like that for us as well. When we demonstrate our love for God by doing His will, it feeds
our
body, mind, soul, and spirit too. It edifies us in ways that nothing else can.

Not long ago I made a decision to help a friend. I knew she needed my assistance, and the Holy Spirit would not let me ignore that fact. I was exhausted from many demands and deadlines and important obligations to others I needed to be doing. So I had good reasons
not
to help. But she was alone, with no one else to assist her in her move to a new place, and I was physically and mentally able to do it. All the people who said they would help her did not show up. Who wants to help someone move, right?