Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, NKJV)
Love hopes all things. What a rich statement this is! Hope is a powerful word and can carry different meanings.
Love wants good things for people. God wants good things for His children. In fact, He’s arranged for good things to happen for us. Romans 8:28 tells us that it’s all good when we love Him and are called by Him. In the gospels (Matthew 7:11 and Luke 11:13), Jesus assures us that the Father knows how to give good things to His children.
Another meaning of the word for “hope” gives us “Love hopefully trusts.” This is related to love believing all things and having confidence in those whom we love. This is an important idea, so God had Paul write it twice, with different wording to help us understand that He really does trust us with the gifts and ministries that He gives. (See last week's blog, "God's Trusting Love," for more on this.)
But there’s an even deeper meaning here. The Greek word for hope is often used in the New Testament to refer to our hope of heaven in Jesus. In this context, love waits for salvation with joy and full confidence. Love’s desire is for all to know Jesus and have eternity in heaven to look forward to with joy. God doesn’t want anybody to die apart from Him and so perish (2 Peter 3:9); He wants everybody to be saved through Jesus. He wanted me to have salvation and went to extraordinary lengths to make that happen.
Think About:
Do you have the hope of heaven in Jesus?
What good things has God given you recently?
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