Love Bears ALL things

Bears All Things-Godly Silence (from Keep Believing Ministries)

1 Corinthians 13: 7 KJV love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”


The first phrase says that love “bears all things.” This comes from a Greek word meaning to cover something. It is related to the word for roof-a covering that offers protection from the hostile elements. I Peter 4:8 says that love covers a multitude of sins. That is precisely the meaning here. Love protects other people. It doesn’t broadcast bad news. It goes the second mile to protect another person’s reputation.

[Now, I can just stop right here in this message! Love protects other people..How many times over the last 6 months have I gone out of my way to protect those that I love even when I know they are not really acting right? I have been guilty of talking to the WRONG person a couple times when it came down to a particular situation. The result of that conversation was a dent on someone's reputation. I have prayed for and received forgiveness, and FINALLY learned that even conversations that occur in times of hurt are unacceptable if the words out of my mouth are not coming from a place of love. Insert a long SIGH!!...At times such as these, I should be SILENT....and listen and wait for God's peace...Normally, I am very good at protecting those I proclaim to love. Let me say that 95% of the time I will go WAY out of the way to protect them. It's those hurtful times that I need more of God to help me with!]

There are two very relevant applications: First, love doesn’t nitpick. It doesn’t point out every flaw of the ones you love. Once in a small group, we were discussing this very point and one of the wives present said a very wise thing: “You can’t talk everything out. Some things you just decide not to worry about.” She’s right. If you took time to point out every mistake your husband or wife made, you wouldn’t have time for anything else. That applies to every human relationship, not just to marriage.

[Again, I am willing to admit that I can be guilty of this. Especially when it comes to a particular someone. I do it under the umbrella of "I am tougher on you because I care so much." I know this is NOT ok on the inside of me because it is unsettling. After the fact, I lack peace about it. On the rare chance that I am nitpicking, I usually wait for a while to make sure I have talked to God, but if I truly LOVE someone, I need to make sure to get the log out of my own eye before I am so quick to get the speck out of their eye (Matthew 7:5). ***Insert gut-check emoticon** I need to take a cue from the message above and decide not to talk everything out..literally!!]

Second, love doesn’t criticize in public. This is perhaps Paul’s primary meaning. Love doesn’t do its dirty laundry for all the world to see. That’s why I cringe whenever I hear a husband humiliating his wife in public or a wife making snide remarks about her husband. I always think, if they do that in public, what do they do in private? As a friend of mine once told me, “There are many times in my life when I’ve been sorry I opened my mouth. But there has never been a time I’ve been sorry I kept silent.” When it comes to needless criticism of other people, that’s excellent advice.

[For me, this is probably one of those areas that I do well with. Almost too well. Not only do I not expose my business publicly, but I sometimes let it eat away at me until it spills out in an angry way. This is NOT of God! How can I love someone and I am not honest about a hurt that they have "unknowingly" inflicted on me? Well, I know that tingles for me, and I want it out of me. As I go through this learning about love period, I have been praying to find a balance of when to speak and when to ask the Lord to bridle my tongue (Psalm 39:1). I want to be able to bear ALL things and not just the things that are comfortable for me. Continue to pray for me.]

Tiffaney

(words in [] are the opinions of Tiffaney K. Draper. Sermon from www.keepbelieving.com)