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Everywhere we look in our culture we see signs of broken relationships. Our situation is so desperate that many people flock to television and pop-psychology with hopes of figuring out how to develop good friendships and maintain peace with loved ones.
We are so eager for happiness in our relationships that we often seek to avoid disrupting them at all costs. However, while the Bible is clear relationships are extremely important, we must be careful not to exalt peace at the expense of truth. Otherwise the way we relate to others will be merely superficial.
Sadly, many believers are unwilling to stand for essential truths of the faith and instead ignore such matters for fear a friendship might be lost. This concern is not without merit; after all, the history of Christian theology is filled with relationships broken because of a doctrinal disagreement. While it is wrong to break fellowship over nonessential matters (Rom. 14:1–12), we have not really loved others if we tolerate sin or allow heresy to run rampant in the church. Sometimes it is necessary to risk ending a relationship for the sake of truth. Love rejoices not in evil but in the truth (1 Cor. 13:6), and thus it is impossible to have love without truth and vice versa.
Paul also tells us in today’s passage that love “believes all things” (v. 7). “All things” refers to that which God has revealed to us; thus, love believes all things in God’s revelation. God is the Lord of truth, and if we love Him with our whole heart, we will rejoice in the truth, and thus we will rejoice in His Word.
Moreover, the secondary referent of “all things” is other people in general. Christians, then, are to be people who trust others. Discernment is necessary of course, lest we become too credulous. Nevertheless, we are to take others at their word, especially other believers, unless circumstances merit otherwise.
Finally, love “hopes all things” (v. 7). This use of hope is not a wish for things that might not happen, as the term is often used in our culture. Paul is instead referring to trust in the future promises of God, which are immutable and sure to come to pass.