Love is… Believing

7-22-18

Last time, we talked about how true love sees the other person for their worth. If you missed it, you can catch up here. This time, let’s talk about believing in the person we love.

This is for everybody, not just the person we love. Paul says that love:

…bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. – 1 Corinthians 13:7

This doesn’t mean that we should blindly trust whatever someone tells us. Trust goes two ways. It is given, but it must be earned and maintained. That’s not the type of belief that Paul means here.

The word “believes” comes from a Greek word that means to have faith in. When we love a person, we need to see them for who they are and empower them to be their best person. If we focus on their mistakes and don’t see their potential, then we aren’t helping them become the person God created them to be.

Jesus believed in His disciples. He knew they were human, and He knew that they wouldn’t be perfect. But He still chose them. He allowed them to travel with Him and see both how He was respected and how He was ridiculed. He allowed them to hold the group’s money. Because He believed in them. He knew that they would mess up, but He also knew that they would help change the world.

People will let us down. We will let people down. But if we don’t allow people the chance to become more than they are, we’re limiting them. It’s hard to try to do something that the people around you don’t think you can do.

I’ve been writing seriously for several years. So far, I don’t have a lot to show for it by most people’s standards. I know that it takes time, and I’m hoping that soon it will start to matter to more than just me. Through all this, my family has been supportive. They believe in me. They believe that I can be a published author and that my work can inspire people.

If they didn’t, I’m not sure how I would keep going when I face rejection. Just this week, it happened again. I asked my husband if he thought I should still keep trying. He said yes without hesitating. Having that means so much.

Let’s be the person that the ones we love can come to at the end of the day when things have gone bad. Let’s be the one to say we know they can.

How can you show someone you believe in them this week?

May the Lord bless and keep you,

Heather