1 Corinthians 13:7 love
bears all things
ok, so not bear, as in grizzly bear….but then again, the strength and mother bear protectiveness could be a good analogy, but I will let you make that parallel.
bears all things (NASB, ESV, NKJV, )
It always protects (NIV)
Love never gives up (NLT)
Dictionary.com What does it mean to bear something?
to hold up; support.
to hold or remain firm under (a load).
to bring forth (young); give birth to.
to produce by natural growth: a tree that bears fruit.
to hold up under; be capable of
Oh wow, I like that forth one, “To produce by natural
growth: a tree that bears fruit”. I wasn’t expecting to take that turn,
but let’s take it there for a second. If
you think about it that makes perfect sense. When we are focused on God’s love
and are loving with spiritual love, we bear fruit
It was planted in good soil beside abundant
waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.”‘ Ezekiel 17:8
To
bear fruit though, we cannot do it without Jesus.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the
vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the
branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you
can do nothing. John 15:4-5
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit,
and so prove to be My disciples. John
15:8
These Scriptures lay it out pretty well. The
question to ask yourself is then, are you bearing fruit? What does bearing
fruit in your life even mean? Well, for a tree it means that out of growth
there are good things that are produced. Are there good things that are being
produced for the Kingdom of God in your life?
Let’s go back to the other definitions of bear. ‘To hold up’,
‘to remain firm’; or as the other versions say, ‘protects’, and ‘never gives
up’. All of these things make me think of a strong person. You could say
physically, but really it would be more internally. When your marriage is on
the rocks you instead hold your spouse up, protect their heart, not give up on
them. When trails or adversity come, your love for and from the Lord allows you
to stand in truth and stand firm.
For my personal life this feels applicable in regards to a few
things. In the past, and even in the recent, I have had disagreements with
friends. It was one of those things that feelings were hurt and the friendship
was shaken up a bit. However, with me wanting to protect my friends heart and
to bear their burdens, I worked hard to see things from their perspective, look
at their heart, speak truth when truth needed to be spoken, but really show
them I was there and never giving up on the friendship. Let me tell you, it is
not always easy, I know so many of you know that. A lot of people though just
give up, cut people out, walk away, get a divorce, avoid the confrontation,
tear them down instead of lift them up….all of these things are not biblical,
and all of these things are not love.
Challenge of the week: Look in your life and ask yourself,
“Am I bearing fruit for the Kingdom?”. And also, look around and ask,
“Am I protecting those around me, not giving up, working through the hard
times, lifting others up, and bearing the burdens of others?” or a
question one of the pastors at my church asked our discussion groups recently,
“Who in my life do I know has a need that I can help fill?”
