6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
7 Love bears up under anything and
everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every
person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures
everything [without weakening].
8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].6 [Love] does not gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.
7-8a Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.
1 Corin. 13:6-8a
Let's continue our wonderful study on Jesus' perfect love for us:
Jesus does not rejoice at unrighteousness. What does that mean? It means He never brings bad things upon us as part of His will! His will is never sickness, oppression, lack, struggle, turmoil, dark seasons, trouble, persecution, attacks, temptation, calamity, or disaster! He doesn't inflict pain, He removes it! He isn't the 'sickener,' He is the healer! He doesn't hurt us, He mends us! This gives us such confidence and security, knowing He would never lash out at us and hurt us, He would never punish/discipline us with sickness or trouble (He has already dealt with our sins anyway, so there is no punishment left for us, and discipline just means teaching - He teaches us by washing us with the water of the word through the illuminating of the Spirit, renewing our minds to the truth, which is always a good experience, not bad!) It gives us assurance that He would never send bad things upon to 'teach us a lesson,' that those things are NOT His will and purpose for us! Yes, He can bring good out of anything, but He doesn't send evil - no! He turns evil around for good and always brings us through in victory somehow in Christ! another similar verse says Love does no harm, and so we know He does NO harm to us!
Instead, Jesus rejoices when truth prevails. What does that mean? Jesus rejoices, not over the lying, deceitful, hurtful attacks of the enemy, but over the truth! He rejoices over the truth about US! He rejoices over the creation He made, rejoices over how beautiful and new and glorious we are in His sight! He sees all of you and He is pleased and excited about what He sees, the wonderful person you are. He doesn't just rejoice over His own presence and image in you, as if He had to put a "Jesus mask" on you in order to tolerate you - no! He loves you for you! He loves the family resemblance, yes, but He also loves the unique person that you are. There is noone in this universe just like you, and He considers you a work of art, His masterpiece. You have a special place in His heart that noone else can fill. and He rejoices over the new creation completeness of His work in you. He rejoices over the fact that you are righteous, blameless, spotless, without reproach, flawless, faultless, holy, pure and clean! He rejoices that you are accepted, loved, adored, right, compatible with Him in every way, at peace with Him, His joy, in harmony with Him. He rejoices that you are united with Him - He is glad to have you around and loved being with you so much that He chose to live inside you, bonded and melded together with your spirit - forever! He rejoices in getting to be with you at all times and look into your face! He adores you, and He rejoices in the truth of who you really are - His wonderful Bride!
Jesus bears all things. What does this mean? It means He puts up with anything! Nothing we do, say, think, feel or even believe can drive Him away from us. He is in this for the long haul. He isn't going anywhere! He is a faithful and loyal friend that can't and won't be put off by our failures and struggles. He isn't disappointed in us, no, He is proud of us! He won't get so frustrated with our failure to 'progress' or 'get His teachings' that He just leaves - He won't give up on us even if we do the same wrong thing for the rest of our life, even if we never come out of that addiction, even if we never see the truth of who we are in Christ, even if we never have stronger faith, see the healing manifest, or overcome the obstacles. Nothing will cause Him to reject us or throw this relationship away. We can't shake Him, can't get rid of Him, can't drive Him away with our failure! This friendship is totally certain for all time - we can count on Him to accept us unconditionally just as we are, no matter what!!
Jesus believes all things. What does that mean? It means He always sees the best in us. He sees the good heart underneath all our actions. He sees what is in us, and He likes what He sees. He knows our core is good, even when we don't know it or live out of it. He won't stop saying how righteous, lovely and good we are, even when we feel ashamed and worthless and no good at all! He believes in us! He believes the best about us, believes that we are the best we can possibly be inside, that we are absolutely pure, holy and good in our deepest part. He won't stop telling us that. He won't stop reminding us that we are His very good new creations that want to do right! He knows and constantly believes that deep inside, we have perfect love for others and perfect faith in Him! He sees who we really are, the new creation He made us to be, and it makes Him smile and celebrate! He is so proud of us, so happy with us. He sees no wrong in us. He believes that our capacity in Him is unlimited. He believes that we could reach any goal and fulfill all our dreams in Him, for we have Him inside living by resurrection power in us, and the sky is the limit! He loves to dream with us and believes that anything is possible for us in Him! He trusts that our heart is pure, that we really do love Him. He knows that we really are innocent children that want more than anything to follow and please Him. He sees the little innocent child that is really you, pure and good and looking up at Him with awe and wonder, teachable, humble, perfect, loving, trusting, generous and good! He believes in you, even if you don't! He knows what He made when He made you, knows you are a masterpiece - for He ONLY makes masterpieces, and so that is what you are!
Jesus hopes all things. What does that mean? It means that He fully expects everything to turn out right for you, because He is already at the end of the journey, waiting there for you! He is the end and the completion of your life. He knows the end from the beginning. He holds your life so securely in His hands that in His eyes, it's already done, completed, and fulfilled, and you are already home in heaven! Truly, you spirit is already there in Him right now, and He knows full well that your redeemed body is going to appear there one day too! There is no doubt in His mind about how things are going to turn out! He is your keeper and will sustain you to the end, firm in the faith, safely tucked away in His arms. Everything is so sure that from His perspective, it's already done. That is what hope is - it is the full expectation of something happening, knowing that it is so sure and certain that you fully expect it to come about. He is sure about our future, He is holding our future, thus we are safe and secure! Our future is set in spiritual concrete.
Jesus endures all things. What does that mean? It means Jesus will be there for you, always, no matter what. He will be there for you through every circumstance, every problem, every crisis, every dark night, every faith lapse, every failure, every rebellion, every burnout, every questioning, every possible thing that could happen in this life. He will never leave our side. We have Someonme we can count on to be there for us through thick and thin. We have Someone we can count on to uphold us and see us through anything. We have Someone we can lean on, Someone to help us, Someone who stands by us, ready to come to our aid and simply take over, carrying us through anything. We are never, ever alone in this world! We never have to face anything alone. He is there for us, faithful to the end! What a loyal Friend, what wonderful love! He will always come through for us, never let us down, never abandon us. When we need Him most, we will find Him most supportive. In our weakness, He will be our strength. He won't demand of us to be tough and handle it, no, He will handle it for us and will love doing so, considering it an honor and privilege to come to our aid and show His power on our behalf! He will fight the devil for us! He will meet the fears and doubts we have head - on and will send them away, no matter how many times we have the same attack. He will constantly delight in us and tell us our identity in Christ, no matter how many times we forget. He will pick us up no matter how many times we fall. There is no end to his help, His support, His care for us! He is our True-Blue Friend, always there for us in any time of need.
Jesus never fails. What does this mean? His love for us will never fail, no! Instead, His love for us will win out over everything else! Love wins! That is the final word about our lives and future! His love will never let us go and will carry us safely home. In fact, we are home already in spirit - we are tucked into Christ, and Christ is tucked into God the Father - we are eternally wrapped in an eternal love hug by the Trinity! That is safety, that is security, that is assurance, that is peace! Nothing can get to us or take us from that place - nothing can pluck us from the Strongest Arms in the universe, from the most Everlasting Grasp in all creation! Everlasting means He will hold us forever! His love will never fail to hold us in that eternal hug. His love will never fail to be there for us. His love will never fail to believe in us when noone else does, not even we ourselves. His love will never fail to treat us with honor and respect. His love will never fail to celebrate the wonderful person we are. His love will never fail to value us, see us as worth something, and call us special and important to Him. His love will never fail to reach us, no matter what dark hole we find ourselves. His love will never fail to pull us up, no matter how far we seem to fall. His love will never fail to accept us. His love will never fail to keep us. His love will never fail us! His love will bring us safely home! We aren't in ultimate control of our destiny, Love is, Jesus is, and the good news is, Love never fails. Love always comes out on top. Love wins! Therefore, we are safe, we are taken in, we are home..without condition, without possibility of change, without our having to deserve it. We are already there because of the greatest things in the universe, the strongest and most effective thing, which always conquers - Jesus, who is Love! He is the One who holds this universe together and sums it all up in Himself, and you are IN HIM, accepted by Him, embraced by Him, adored by Him, held by Him, LOVED by Him forever! Love never ends. His love for you truly is forever. It will go on and on, outlasting the stars, outlasting kings and kingdoms, outlasting anything you do or say or imagine. When everything else has come and gone, you will still be in His arms, and He will still be loving you! And that love will be as fresh and new and undiluted as on the first day of creation, continuing in that purity and joy for all eternity! Everything will be all right, like sin never happened, with no memory or presence of any fear, trouble or pain. Everything will be full of Pure Love, for His Presence, which is perfect love, will permeate the atmosphere, and all will be whole and beautiful and innocent and free. You will dance forever in His Perfect Love! His loving presence, His Spirit of Love, will fill, surround, envelop and saturate you! You will be a child forever in His presence, with no worries or cares. You will jump, run, sing, laugh and even fly and soar! You will be safe forever, in pristine joy forever, beloved forevermore! Love wins!
Wow! Words fail me, thinking about His love! Thank You, Lord, for loving us! Thank You...thank You...thank You..we love You back!