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.

I recently began an exciting sermon series called Daring Love. Christ’s love is daring – it’s bold and courageous; it’s fearless and adventurous.

It’s also supernatural. It’s beyond the grasp of human effort and willpower. To love like Jesus, we must allow Him to transform our hearts and to empower us with His Holy Spirit.

The good news is that he loves to transform our hearts and to invite us to enjoy and share His daring love with others!

The Bible commands us to “Pursue love…” [I Corinthians 14:1a]

That’s a strange command isn’t it? In our culture, love is something that happens to you, not something you go after. Love is a noun, not a verb. Love is a feeling, not an action. So this command seems a bit odd at first.

God is telling us if we want to experience His love, it’s something that requires intentional effort on our part. This word “pursue” in the Greek means to aggressively chase, like a hunter pursuing a catch (prize). And this chase is not casual, rather it suggests a pursuit with all haste, earnestly desiring to overtake that which you are pursuing.

So Paul is telling us to earnestly, passionately chase after love until to catch it!

And our pursuit is critical because Daring Love inspires others to love boldly and courageously. When we love like Jesus, it impacts those around us, calling them to action.

The Bible commands us to “consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.”
Hebrews 10:24, NKJV

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. (NLT)

So in addition to pursuing love ourselves, we are called to motivate our brothers and sisters to commit daring acts of love!

This verb “stir up” means to stimulate, provoke, arouse and excite a person to action.

This is one of the reasons we are commanded to be a part of a local church. We can’t stir up love in others or stimulate good works while we sit at the kitchen table having our personal quiet time!
Love requires a family! You can’t do it alone.

How awesome would it be to be a part of a church family filled with believers who were bold and daring in their expression of love and good works?!

Be intentional today in your pursuit of love. Consider how you might motivate others to live a lifestyle of daring love for Christ and for others.

A quick survey of the cultural landscape reveals our desperate quest for love. Whether it’s soap operas, grocery store tabloids, or the latest pop hit, our popular culture is flooded with the notion of love. The irony is that our pursuit of love has never been more vulgar, violent and obscene. What we now refer to as “love” is nothing more than syrupy sentimentality or raw lust. True love has proven impossible for the fallen world to achieve, and the reason is not hard to discover.

The problem with the world is that it tries to seek love apart from and at the cost of truth. As Arthur Katz observes, the world “fervently seeks after love but cannot and will not receive truth; therefore, it finds neither truth nor love.” In this regard, we see that truth is a necessary pre-requisite for love. Love springs forth from the deep wells of truth. Without the strong banks of truth, the river of love becomes a polluted swamp full of all kinds of poisonous and dangerous creatures.

The Apostle John, known as “the apostle of love” and the one who rested his head upon the bosom of Christ, clearly understood the unbreakable union between love and truth. He begins his second epistle with these words: “To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love” (II John 1-3) For John, the only way to truly love someone was in truth. Truth defines what love actually looks like.

Think of all the destructive behaviors which occur in our world today under the guise of “love.” We approve of pre-marital sex when both parties “really love each other.” We justify co-habitation as an experiment for marriage when the couple is “in love.” Husbands leave their wives because they are “in love” with another woman. We argue that homosexuals should be allowed to marry because they just happen to “love” members of the same sex. After all, who are we to tell them it’s wrong if they are truly “in love.” The list of perversions goes on and on. If love is not defined and supported by the foundation of truth, it becomes merely a smoke screen to cover our selfish desires for physical pleasure at any cost.

The following verses highlight the unbreakable relationship between love and truth:

“your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.” (Psalm 26:3)

“I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.” (Psalm 40:10)

“your love and your truth always protect me.” (Psalm 40:11)

“Therefore love truth and peace.” (Zechariah 8:19)

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” (I Corinthians 13:6)

“speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15)

“the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel” (Colossians 1:5)

“They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (II Thessalonians 2:10)

If you’re looking for love, start by embracing God’s Truth about relationships!