Daily Devotion

“[Love] does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:6-8a)

God’s love has permanence to it. It lasts all during our earthly stay and forever in heaven. Man’s love, like his life, is at best temporary and transitory. When we get saved, we learn what true love is all about. Love rejoices, bears, believes, hopes, and endures. It never fails.

John 13:1 says, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” The disciples, like us, were not perfect. They were common, ordinary men that God used to spread the gospel to the whole world. From its inception on the day of Pentecost, the church has been characterized by love. The early believers loved one another as well as all men, including their enemies.

• – We cannot live a lie nor can we rejoice in iniquity in any form. God’s Word is truth, Jesus is the truth, and thus we must live by the truth. Lies change because they are lies; Truth never changes. Jesus said in Matthew 5:37, “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ No. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” Truth and honesty is vital in our relationships.

Love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth

• – There is nothing that love cannot bear. Not pain, separation, illness, sorrow, loss, death, not anything. Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s love through us can bear anything and everything.

Love bears all things

• – This does not mean that we should believe everything we read online, in the newspaper, or on TV, but rather believe all things that God has shown us. We must stand for what we believe in Christ no matter the consequences in this life. We need to trust each other and stand by each other. However if someone is in the wrong, no matter how much we love them, we must side with the truth and with the righteous.

Love believes all things

• – Hope in the Bible is more than positive or wishful thinking, it is a confident expectation based on the Word of God. God has proven Himself over and over again to us. We must look to Him without question or doubt.