4 THINGS THAT LOVE DOES
Introduction:
We
are supposed to be in the season of Love, with Valentine's Day coming up
tomorrow. I wanted to find out what is considered the best Valentine's Day
gift, so I Googled. In 1.01 seconds, around 227,000,000 (millions) web pages lined
up. Most of them will try to sell me what I must buy to make my wife happy and
feel loved.
It still doesn't answer what makes the
best Valentine's Day gift for someone we love? Then I typed what the most
popular gift is? I found out as cliché, as it might be, the heart-shaped box of
chocolates is still one of the most popular Valentine's gifts, and nearly 48%
of consumers say chocolate is one of the top gifts they present to their
sweetheart."[1]
My quest to find out the best
Valentine's Day gift led me to pricy, material things. Is giving material gifts
the only way we show Love? How else can we express Love? Today we will look at Four
Things That Love Does. I believe these four are the best gifts you can
give to someone you currently love or may enter into a love relationship with
in the future.
After laying a standard of true Love
that does not demand its own way, is not easily angered, doesn't keep a record
of wrongs, and doesn't rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth
wins out; the apostle Paul goes on to unfold Four Things That Love Does.
I.
LOVE NEVER GIVES UP (Always Protects NIV, It keeps every confidence NASB)
At the start of this chapter, Paul humbly
puts himself as a student who needs to learn true Love. He shows us how a
follower of Christ should imitate the Love of Christ in a society that is
devoid of true Love. What does it mean that Love never gives up or always
protects? In Greek, the word means "roof over, or to cover with
silence." It means what you share in private remains intact with the
person who truly loves you. You can be safe around them.
God invites us to come to Him and
confess our sins to Him. Nothing will surprise Him as He knows them anyway.
Coming to God may not always feel comfortable, but you can be safe around Him. When
we confess our sins, he forgives our sins but lets us face the consequences.
The sowing and reaping principle
works with sin. All sin, big or small, has consequences. Out of God's Love, He
forgives all our sins, but we still face the consequence of physical death, but
the free gift of salvation is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans
6:23).
How does this all-covering Love operate in our
daily lives? Peter experienced this kind of God's love firsthand, so he advised
his listeners to do the same. I Peter 4:8, "Most important of all,
continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins."
True Love covers all things;
however, if someone tells you that they have killed someone or are thinking of
killing themselves or others. What would you do? If you cover it up, you become
complicit with a criminal, or you would let a person or innocent persons die. The
most loving thing we can do is inform the concerned authorities to take
appropriate actions.
II
LOVE NEVER LOSES FAITH (Always trusts NIV, Love believes all things NASB)
True Love exists and thrives in a
trusting environment. Once trust is broken, it is hard to love that person. It
is not that it can never be regained. It takes a long time to trust them again.
We see this loving relationship between a mother and a nursing child and a
husband and wife. When a child can know and trust their mother, they will grow
in confidence and security.
There is Love when there is trust in
a marriage, and that marriage thrives. God uses two metaphors of a mother and a
husband to express his Love towards his people. Isaiah 66:12-13 "This is
what the Lord says: "I will give Jerusalem a river of peace and
prosperity. The wealth of the nations will flow to her. Her children will be
nursed at her breasts, carried in her arms, and held on her lap. I will comfort
you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child."
Several scriptures
portray God as a husband to his people. Isaiah 54:5, "For your Creator will
be your husband; the Lord of Heaven's Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. In Ephesians 5:1, Imitate God,
therefore, in everything you do because you are his dear children. "How
are we imitating God's Love?
On the eve of Valentine's Day,
husbands, how do you love your wives? Do you love them as Christ has loved the
Church? (Eph 5:25). Christ loves his bride the Church and entrusts her with His
mission despite her faults. We live in a time where there is so much distrust.
We don't trust the government and
the Church. For that matter, we don't trust anyone. We often assume the worst
of people. True Love trusts all people until they are proven wrong. What did
Ronald Regan say, "Trust, but verify."? Did you know that is a
Russian Proverb?[2]
True Love believes all things, and this
doesn't mean conspiracy theories. It means believing the best in each person.
When it comes to conspiracies and other heresies, we must test them against
God's truth and believe them only if they follow the Scriptures. The followers
of Christ must flat-out reject and stop spreading them because it is not the
loving thing to do.
III.
LOVE IS ALWAYS HOPEFUL (remaining steadfast during difficult
times) AMP
If there is one word most often used
by people and the very thing the world desperately needs and wants, what would
that be? I would say hope! Without hope, there is no meaning and purpose to life.
People who lose all hope often end up committing suicide. What is Hope?
It is a feeling of expectation and
desire for a particular (good) thing to happen. The word hope in Hebrew
(Tikvah) is more concrete. It implies expectation, which also means cord or
rope, which comes from a root word that binds. When someone is drowning in a
river, they need a rope to be pulled to safety. That is what hope does to a
person drowning in life's challenges.
Hold on to these hopeful scriptural
promises amid difficult times. Hebrews 6:19, "This hope is a strong and
trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's
inner sanctuary. "David knew who to turn to and put his hope on in times
of distress.
Psalm 62:5-6, "Let all that I am
wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my
salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken." In difficult times we
turn to God and find hope in Him. At times he allows difficulties on our way to
strengthen our hope.
Romans 5:3-5, "We can rejoice,
too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us
develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character
strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to
disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the
Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his Love." True Love is
always hopeful.
When we say we love God, we don't quickly
lose hope when things get tough to handle. That is when we hold on to God, the
anchor of our lives. When we say we love someone, especially in close family
relationships and friendships, we stick with them, pray and support them when
they go through hard times.
I see beautiful examples among us where
families, marriages, and individuals hold on to God and one another despite
difficulties and troubling situations. A minister friend of mine took care of
his wife, who suffered from MS for 25 years, keeping his marital vows until
death separated them. What does this Love is always hopeful mean for your
situation?
You may be going through a situation
beyond your control, and you feel like giving up. I encourage you to hold on to
the rope of hope that will get you through. When you are depressed, preach to
yourself as David did. Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?
I
will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!"
Psalm 42: 11
IV.
LOVE ENDURES THROUGH EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE
Here is an incredible story of
endurance. Colby Stevenson from Park City, Utah, overcame traumatic brain
injury and rehabilitation after a near-career-ending car crash in 2016. The
gifted skier suffered multiple skull fractures in the crash, and doctors had
little hope for a full recovery, let alone freestyle skiing on a professional
level. Stevenson endured vertigo and memory problems but showed the will to
power through the ordeal.
He won a gold medal in X games in
2020 and a silver medal in the big air men's free skiing final at the Winter
Olympics in Beijing. He said, "your character is really defined in those
tougher times in your life. Even though maybe you're dealt bad cards, it's how
you're going to look at that in a positive light and move forward and push
toward your dreams. Even though they seem so far out of reach, you just stay
true to what you love."[3]
This is an excellent story of Love that
endures through every circumstance. Whatever difficult circumstance you may be
going through, don't give up. Put your hope in God. Love God with all your
heart, as He commanded us to do so. I close with this prayer. "I pay that
God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because
you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power
of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13. Amen!
