Bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things- that is a lot to contemplate. Bearing and enduring don’t exactly have a positive tone. Hoping and believing do. When we really stop and examine these words in the context of God’s love, the verse only has universal meaning when they are applied to all things and all times. It is all too easy to love, believe, hope, and endure when things are pleasant and we think things are right. But do we remember that God’s love is at the center of these moments all the time? It is much harder to find God’s love in things we endure. Sometimes we lose awareness of our hope and belief as we endure the worst or think the worst of the world and others. Perhaps the important part of this verse is the seemingly neutral “all things.”

Love is not God’s love, agape, if it only applies to things we find pleasant and right. God’s love is not partial, and it is not easy. It does not ignore the parts of life and reality that humans want to deny. It does not waver. It endures. It holds. It supports. It is.

Some people find me to be cynical. I prefer to think of it as realistic. I prefer to think of it as not denying that life can be challenging. I think the difference is hope. If we seek to be Christ-like like then we must find hope in all things, the things we cannot explain, the things we cannot agree with. If we seek to be Christ-like like then we are required to endure the pain and suffering of the world even when we want to label it as wrong, or ignore it, or be angry about it. We are required to believe and seek the hope that God’s love will show us- all of us- a path forward because our example is a Man whose path led to a cross. When our love endures all things, then we respond in love to all things. The challenge of loving people, ideas, and situations that we think are wrong requires us to be realistic about the fact that we are not in charge and we are not all-knowing. The human capacity to understand all is only possible through the gift of the Holy Spirit and the sacrifice of Jesus. If my belief is that God makes all things, then I must give my doubts to God in prayer and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Hope is born in these moments when we return God’s love in prayer and find the strength to accept our place in a world that we do not understand.

Let us pray together today that we have hope and belief in our hearts as we strive to understand all. God, help us to understand that Your love is ever present for us and in us to share with the world we live in, hope in, believe in, endure in, and we pray that we act as part of one church in the body of Christ. May the fruits of the Spirit that You have shared with us enrich the lives of everyone we encounter. Amen.

This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Susan Daves

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

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