While love “believes the best” about people and situations, our fallen, sinful flesh will always default toward negativity. We don’t naturally enjoy covering the sin of another anymore than we enjoy choosing to believe the best about someone, especially when we have heard otherwise.

However, love “believes all things” and refuses to yield to suspicions of doubt. Love does the opposite, it remains confident to the end.

By placing its faith in God, daring love remains confident that “all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purposes.” (Romans 8:28)

To “believe all things” means that love believes the best that is possible as long as that can be done.

Love gives the benefit of the doubt. It takes people at their highest and best-not at their lowest and worst.

I love the way these Bible commentators capture the essence of this verse:

When Love has no evidence, it believes the best. When the evidence is adverse, it hopes for the best. And when hopes are repeatedly disappointed, it still courageously waits.
(Robertson and Plummer – 1Corinthians 13-Critical and Exegetical Commentary)

How many of you remember the darling of the 1984 Olympic Games, Mary Lou Retton?

She won gold, silver and bronze medals and became the first American woman to win the all-around title in gymnastics receiving perfect scores in two of the all-around events. She had this to say about her journey to the top:

It takes talent, discipline, a very strong work ethic, and a love for your sport to be an Olympic champion. But that’s only 50 percent of it. I wouldn’t have become an Olympic champion without the other 50 percent that my coach, Bela Karolyi, gave me. He made me believe the unbelievable, that I could be an Olympic champion.

It’s hard to become a champion if no one believes in you. Coach Bill McCartney, founder of the Promise Keepers men’s movement, once said the four most important words in the world were “I BELIEVE IN YOU.”

How do you view people?

Do you see them through the eyes of faith or through the lens of fear?

Have you told your spouse of your children how much you believe in them?

Let people know you believe in them!

How about yourself? Who do you have someone around you who truly believes in you?

I love these instructions from the Lord to Moses concerning his servant Joshua:

Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.’
Deuteronomy 3:28

What did Joshua need? Someone to believe in him. You and I are no different. Be an encourager of others and surround yourself with friends who choose to “believe the best!”

Unleash the champion in you and others!

On face value, the notion that “loves believes all things” sounds like an invitation to join the Optimists Club (No offense to any club members).

Is God asking us to be gullible? Is He calling us to blindly place our trust and confidence in those who are demonstrably untrustworthy?

Are we supposed to be Christian versions of Charlie Brown placing our naïve trust in Lucy as she promises to hold the ball steady, only to land flat on our backs once again?

Fortunately for us, this is not what Paul is saying.

This word “believe” means “to put one’s faith or trust in something or someone.” This verb is a constant continuing action in the Greek, meaning a never-give-up kind of belief.

This kind of love believes the best in every situation.

You see, most of us have been burned by others who we “believed in.” As a result, we often default to a position of guarded suspicion in our dealings with others. We pride ourselves in never being “burned” a second time by someone who has hurt or failed us.

So what’s the proper balance between a naïve gullibility and jaded cynicism?

Daring love is neither stupid nor blind. It see it all – the good, the bad and the ugly. But here’s the critical difference – it chooses to view both the person and the situation through the eyes of faith.
It places its confidence in the character of God and the sure promises in His Word.

It sees beyond the obvious problems and challenges, straining forward to see the highest potential that resides in each individual. A great translation would be…

“Love strains forward with all its might to believe the very best in every situation…”

Love “believes all things” and refuses to yield to suspicions of doubt and negativity. In fact, love does the opposite. It remains confident to the end.

Why?

Because love places its faith in God, who will work out His divine plans even when all the circumstances seem to point in the opposite direction.

When the details are sketchy or unclear, choose to believe the best, and not the worst about the person or situation.

Love always believes the best!

The Bible tells us “love bears all things.” (I Cor. 13:7)

The verb used here, stego, means “to cover closely, to protect, to conceal.”

The picture here is of a love that protects others by covering them, concealing them from hostile words and harmful actions that would bring injury. Love is pictured as a strong roof enduring the weight of everything coming from outside while providing a supportive, protecting covering from all that is inside.

We see a great example of this love in Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11. The Pharisees drag a woman “caught in adultery” before Jesus. They had no concern for the woman or genuine care for the glory of God. This was simply a cleverly conceived plan to trap Jesus and the poor woman was merely a pawn.

Jesus saw right through their hypocrisy and he beautifully demonstrates what it means “to bear all things.” He commands the one without sin to start the execution process. Truth shines into their darkened hearts and the stones begin to hit the ground. “Where are your accusers?” Jesus asks the woman. They are gone. “Neither do I accuse you,” Jesus says. And then he admonishes her to “Go and sin no more.”

Jesus’ love is bearing love. It seeks to save and redeem, not to destroy.

Daring loves bears all, it doesn’t bare all. Love bears all things by protecting others from exposure, ridicule, or harm.

While love never hides or protects sin, it always seeks to protect the sinner.

There are those today who think “love” means accepting both the sin and the sinner under the banner of “unconditional love.” Jesus does not do that. He never condoned the woman’s sin. He didn’t sweep it under the rug like it was no big deal. At the same time, his heart was to cover the one guilty of the sin. His goal was healing and restoration, not condemnation. But true healing can never be realized as long as the individual clings to the sin that is destroying her.

Love won’t lie about weaknesses, but neither will it deliberately expose and emphasize them. Love protects. Love covers.