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So What Does it Mean to Love

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:7

Love – "believes all things" Love believes the best about others - always! When someone you care about is called into question, love says: "You do not know what you are talking about; that is not the kind of person he is. That is not what she meant." Listen again: "[Love] hopes all things." Love sees people not as they are, but as they will be by God's grace. Would it not be great if God could download that kind of love into all our hearts? Then Paul adds that love "endures all things." Endure is a military term. It means driving a stake into the ground - is that not great? It is like, "I'll stand my ground in loving you." In his book "Love, Acceptance & Forgiveness", Jerry Cook describes a church in Washington State that grew in 14 years to more than 4,000 people. The book includes a commitment the people at that church made to each other. It says: "You will never knowingly suffer at my hands. I'll never knowingly say or do anything to hurt you. I'll always, in every circumstance, seek to help and support you. If you are down and I can lift you, I'll do that. If you need something and I have it, I'll share it with you. If I need to, I'll give it to you. No matter what I find out about you, no matter what happens in the future - either good or bad - my commitment to you will never change. And there is nothing you can do about it!" Today pray "Lord, help me to love like that."

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to love as you love me and see me. Help me see others through your eyes of mercy and grace! In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen