Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, ENDURES ALL THINGS. Love never fails… (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, NKJV).
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Loving Endurance
Who likes to be told to endure? Not me. The very thought has all kinds of negative connotations. I don't recall ever being asked to endure something pleasurable or good, but only painful, stressful, effortful or heartbreaking.
Yet, if we look carefully in Scripture there are plenty of good things about God (there can be no other kind) that endure. His love. His mercy. His faithfulness. His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. So endurance in and of itself is clearly not always negative. And most of the time, the RESULT of endurance IS good.
By describing agape love as that which ENDURES ALL THINGS, I believe the Apostle Paul has both aspects of endurance in mind. Not just the wholly good flavor, but also the not-good kind that ultimately leads to good.
The absolute best example, of course, is the inventor of love Himself, Jesus. Look at what Hebrews 12 tells us:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him ENDURED the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1, 2, NKJV).
These two verses encompass both the purely enjoyable kind of endurance ("…Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the JOY that was set before Him…"), and the other kind that RESULTS in something wonderful ("…run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us…" and "…ENDURED the cross, despising the shame…").
We are to run the often painful, stressful, effortful and heartbreaking race of this life with ENDURANCE, looking unto Jesus who, out of agape love for us and the Father, and for the everlasting JOY of our eternal life with Him, ENDURED the cross in our place.
That's what true love does. it looks sacrificially toward the ultimate good of the beloved, and endures WHATEVER IT TAKES to bestow or provide that goodness.
When does that kind of love say "enough!"? It simply doesn't. That's why Jesus instructed His disciples: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." (John 15:13, NKJV).
Agape love endures whatever it must, in order to obtain whatever it can, for the sake of the beloved. That's what Jesus did. That's what we, His followers and (amazingly) friends are to do as well.
Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having LOVED His own who were in the world, He LOVED THEM TO THE END. (John 13:1, NKJV).
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Loving Endurance
Who likes to be told to endure? Not me. The very thought has all kinds of negative connotations. I don't recall ever being asked to endure something pleasurable or good, but only painful, stressful, effortful or heartbreaking.
Yet, if we look carefully in Scripture there are plenty of good things about God (there can be no other kind) that endure. His love. His mercy. His faithfulness. His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. So endurance in and of itself is clearly not always negative. And most of the time, the RESULT of endurance IS good.
By describing agape love as that which ENDURES ALL THINGS, I believe the Apostle Paul has both aspects of endurance in mind. Not just the wholly good flavor, but also the not-good kind that ultimately leads to good.
The absolute best example, of course, is the inventor of love Himself, Jesus. Look at what Hebrews 12 tells us:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him ENDURED the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1, 2, NKJV).
These two verses encompass both the purely enjoyable kind of endurance ("…Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the JOY that was set before Him…"), and the other kind that RESULTS in something wonderful ("…run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us…" and "…ENDURED the cross, despising the shame…").
We are to run the often painful, stressful, effortful and heartbreaking race of this life with ENDURANCE, looking unto Jesus who, out of agape love for us and the Father, and for the everlasting JOY of our eternal life with Him, ENDURED the cross in our place.
That's what true love does. it looks sacrificially toward the ultimate good of the beloved, and endures WHATEVER IT TAKES to bestow or provide that goodness.
When does that kind of love say "enough!"? It simply doesn't. That's why Jesus instructed His disciples: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." (John 15:13, NKJV).
Agape love endures whatever it must, in order to obtain whatever it can, for the sake of the beloved. That's what Jesus did. That's what we, His followers and (amazingly) friends are to do as well.
Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having LOVED His own who were in the world, He LOVED THEM TO THE END. (John 13:1, NKJV).
