A Good Word...

...Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
I Corinthians 13:7

If you are one who bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, people will accuse you of being blind to certain situations. Not so. Agape love is not blind. Quite the opposite. Because love sees more, it’s willing to see less.

What does love see? It sees the price that was paid on the Cross of Calvary for the person or situation which threatens to make us mad or bitter. The older I get, the more clearly I see the work of the Cross. I see the reality of the Holy Spirit’s power to convict people. I see the promise of the Father being worked out—that in due season, if they choose not to listen to the Word and respond to the Spirit, their sin will track them down (Numbers 32:23). Therefore, rather than feeling I have to solve every problem and deal with every situation, I can simply bear with, believe in, and hope the best for people because of the commitment Jesus made to them when He died for them.

How can we live in this kind of love? The only way is to let Jesus Christ live it through us, for He is the Embodiment of these characteristics. We can’t psyche ourselves into this, gang. This kind of love is nothing less than the fruit of the Spirit. But as I walk with the Lord, talk to the Lord, and learn about the Lord, His Spirit produces this character in me ever so slowly, but ever so surely.
‘If you abide in Me,’ Jesus said, ‘you shall bring forth much fruit’ (John 15:5). What fruit? Love. He told us we’re branches and that He is the Vine. What do branches do? Just hang in there, close to the vine. Therefore, as I stay connected to the Vine by getting to know Him and enjoying Him, the fruit will come.
Fruit comes when you continue doing just what you’re doing now—spending time with Him, hanging in there week after week, month after month, year after year. Slowly, but surely, as you stay connected to Jesus, more and more of His agape love will flow through you. You watch; you wait; you’ll see.

Courson, Jon: A Day's Journey : 365 Daily Meditations from the Word. Santa Ana, CA : Calvary Chapel Publishing, 2003, S. June 29