(Love) "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:7
Today we are going to study what Paul meant when he said that love believes and hopes all things and how we can become people who have our minds renewed to the truth so that we do not become defiled in our thinking about other people. We are going to start with what Paul meant when he said that love believes all things. Paul is not telling us to be gullible and naïve! He is telling us to walk in wisdom and discernment; not being moved by what our eyes see or our ears hear. A person may be amplifying sin in their life or they may have demonic activity driving them to do bad things, but the heart of the person who believes all things; looks beyond their sinful actions to the heart of the matter just like Jesus did in His ministry.
Paul described this person best in Titus 1:15 when he said, "To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled." Though in the context of this passage Paul is speaking about the false teachers who were judging and condemning people by the type of meats they were eating; the principle of what he is saying still applies to what we are talking about today. We are never to judge or condemn any person for the things they allow intheir lives. Their allowing something in their life at the present moment doesn't mean they will always choose to allow it. Or just because they may have demonic activity driving them, doesn't mean they will always be bound by it.
Just think about yourself for a moment. How many things did you allow in your life and how many poor choices did you make before you came to a revelation knowledge of Jesus Christ? I am talking about the life changing knowledge that moved your heart, changed your desires,and caused you to change the way you lived. Words and actions are temporal things that change with growth and maturity. So to look upon a person who is committing a sin or who has committed as a lost cause, is foolish. Demonic activity is also temporal because we have been given the power to cast out demons. So to discount a person from change just because they are bound by demons is foolish as well. The person who believes all things knows that at any moment a man can turn to God and repent and when he does he receives the same reward as the person who never made those poor choices. They also know that at any moment a person can be delivered from demons and repent and they too will receive the same reward.
In other words we are to never discount a person from salvation or restoration based on what we see or hear them doing. We are to believe the best and pray for them to be moved to repentance or deliverance. We are to believe what the Bible says and interact with people the way Jesus did. He didn't condemn, freak out, gossip, or judge the people caught in sin or bound by demons. He knew who He was and He knew the power that had been given Him to reach them with the message of salvation and restoration, and He walked in that power. If given the opportunity we are to do the same thing. If not given the opportunity, we are to pray for them and believe that God hears and answers our prayers even if we do not see the manifestation of it in the present moment.
Gaining this understanding is what leads us to hope all things because hope is what keeps our faith alive. Remember what Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." Let me explain. Have you ever heard people say things like, "She is a hopeless cause" or "He won't change. There's no hope for him"? What happens to your heart when you believe these lies? I know for me I get a sick feeling in my heart and I begin to doubt that change is possible for anyone,including myself. This causes me to lose faith because I begin to adopt a mindset of hopelessness.
But for the person who is love motivated, grace filled, and purpose driven they don't believe the lie of hopelessness. They understand that with God ALL things are possible! It is not the responsibility of any person to change their actions or to quit living in a sinful lifestyle in order for us to believe and hope all things. Their choices should not have an effect on us. We have to believe and hope all things are possible if we are going to walk in love and bear the fruit of love in our lives. I want to leave us with a story from Mark 9:17-29 for us to meditate on so we can gain a better understanding of what Paul said about love believing and hoping all things. This story is about a person who has demonic activity in their life. Please read other stories about people who Jesus encountered who were living sinful lives to gain even more wisdom and understanding in regards to what Paul is saying in 1Corinthians 13:7. May we all grow inwisdom and knowledge as we prepare for tomorrow's devotion where Paul said that love never fails.
"Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not." He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father,"How long has this been happening to him?"
And he said, "From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things arepossible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it,"Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said,"He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."
No comments:
Post a Comment