Love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
1 Corinthians 13:7 NASB1995
“Bears” - The idea is very similar to “covering”. The illustration is often used of a roof covering a house. It bears up and protects. In Boy Scouts one time there were six of us in my huge tent. A strong hail storm came through Lake Livingston. All but two boys were hunkered down in my tent. It was considered a place of safety and protection in the midst of the storm. Love should be this way. Love is this way.
“Believes” - gives the benefit of the doubt. Or better yet, doesn’t doubt to begin with. People that you love you tend to believe them much more easily than those you don’t. Where love is lacking it can be difficult to believe someone even when they are telling the truth. In our family, with our brethren, and even with the stranger, may a heart of love be seen in us that is not filled with skepticism but belief in our fellow mankind. And also, let us behave and love in such a way that people have every reason to love/believe us.
“Hopes” - Love is optimistic. Love wants good for others and for the future. This virtue of love is very important in that it helps love to bear, and believe, and endure. A love that hopes is a love that wants to cover and protect. A love that hopes is a love that wants to believe the best. A love that hopes is a love that endures through the trial because it looks beyond/forward past the present storm to the sun that will shine again. There abide faith, hope, and love. The greatest is love, and yet love is nothing without hope.
“Endures” - similar to the first word “bear” but with the idea that it perseveres under pressure. It does not give way, give up, or give in. It holds. Love continues on to bear even through difficult, challenging, and stressful times and situations. Think back to the tent illustration from my Boy Scout trip. In the end, the storm proved too much. The tent couldn’t bear up under the wind, water, and hail and a support rod broke and the whole tent collapsed. It bore up, but it didn’t endure. As the rain and hail continued to pound we all ran down to the dock. It had a covered area with wood supports and a metal roof. It was tremendously loud, and we didn’t get a wink of sleep, but it endured.
May your love be like the dock and not the tent. May it bear up, believe, hope, and endure... all things.
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