Marriage Meditation: Love Bears All Things (2024)

FAQs

What does it mean when Love bears all things? ›

To bear something means to help carry, suffer with or endure. First Corinthians 13:7 states, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” To love your spouse is to help carry their burdens through life and endure with them through their shortcomings.

Love endures all things. Christians face hard times. Those who choose to love as Jesus does do not stop loving when life becomes difficult. Love for God and others endures through tough days and long nights.

As such, the expression “believes all things” is best understood as that attitude which assumes the best in others. To “believe all things” means that we give others the benefit of the doubt. It means that we expect the best. It means that we are able to overlook the offences and failure of others.

To “hope all things” means that we never consider another to be a lost cause. It means that we never give up on each other, even when we see one another fall and fall hard. Christians believe that everyone that God calls will see maturity and eventually glorification.

agape, in the New Testament, the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God. In Scripture, the transcendent agape love is the highest form of love and is contrasted with eros, or erotic love, and philia, or brotherly love.

Bears offer a lovely sense of warmth and protection. Toy bears have open arms, ready for a cuddle, and by design, they are always on hand to be squeezed and snuggled. This may tie back to the idea that bears are very protective, powerful animals. They care deeply about the ones they love.

In 1 Corinthians 13:7, Paul writes, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” God's Word gives an outline in this verse for how to assume the best about others.

Love protects others physically, emotionally, intellectually, relationally, and spiritually. Love provides a safe place for others in the storms of life. Our protection of those we love does not overlook sin in their lives. One way we protect them is to lovingly help them overcome sin in their lives.

Beareth all things…. Love bears all things according to God's Word. “Beareth” is the Greek word stegō, which means to cover over, shelter, protect.

As Paul continues giving us the characteristics of agape love in First Corinthians 13, he moves to the next four points in his message. He explains to the Corinthians (and to us) that genuine agape love “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (v. 7).

Where in the Bible does it say love makes all things beautiful? ›

Ecclesiastes 3:11 King James Version (KJV)

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

To do everything in love means that we do not dishonor others, brag, or become easily angered. To do everything in love means to rejoice in the truth of God, reject evil, and to trust and hope in Him. Believers can make choices each day out of love that result in being patient, kind, and forgiving.

In our context to “endure all things” word means that we are willing to remain in difficult situations for the sake of one another, rather than seeking our own ease through escape. This means that when our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are making life difficult for us, we don't look for a way out.

Enduring love means not only do we come to the aid of our loved ones but we stay there, not withdrawing or retreating in the face of adversity or adversaries.

1 John 4:7–8. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

The phrase “beareth all things” could be translated:

“Love protects, shields, guards, covers, conceals, and safeguards people from exposure.…” Paul goes on to mention the twelfth characteristic of agape love, saying that love “…

Then, as we read chapter 13:4-8 of 1 Corinthians, Paul lays it out for us in this list: Love is patient, kind, does not envy or boast, is not rude nor self-seeking, not easily angered, does not keep a record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, loves truth; it protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres. Love never fails.

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” 1 Corinthians 13:7. Reflection: Nothing of great value comes easily. To preserve our relationships, we must often pass through many difficulties and hardships. God gives us the gift of love to see us through.