Hi there,

Hope you’re good? and not given up on life? and still pushing through all that might stand in your way? because you are really a lot stronger than whatever is facing you and also stronger than what you think. So don’t give up. Keep going.

For the past few months, since 2016 actually, there’s been this verse that settled in my heart for some reason but I never fully grasped it. It sounds so pleasant to the ears but I didn’t really comprehend it but enjoyed saying it out to myself because whatever it could mean, had to be good.

It’s a verse in 1 Corinthians 13. Yes. The love chapter :). Verse 7. It says ‘Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things’.

Doesn’t that just send chills down your spine? like even though you don’t fully grasp it either? it’s just the soothing words that just makes me smile each time it comes to mind.

Now, like I said earlier, even up till the beginning of this year, I had not fully understood this verse, but I had an idea of it. God started bringing me across so many stories in the bible where I find that an all knowing God who knows the end from the beginning and knows your next thought even before you think it (psalm 139) was asking people questions which had obvious answers. I mean, He’s omniscient.

It started with Adam’s story. After Eve gave him the fruit to eat and they both ate and found out they were naked, they went into hiding. And when God arrived at the scene, He called out to Adam and asked, ‘where are you?’

The same with Cain and Abel. After God received Abel’s offering and did not receive Cain’s offering, as the story goes, Cain killed his brother Abel when they were out in the field. When the voice of the Lord was heard. He asked Cain, ‘where is your brother Abel?’

Another instance would be when Elijah was running from Jezebel, as she had sworn to kill him, remember when he got into the forest and asked God to take his life as ‘I am not better than the prophets who were here before me’ in his words. The next thing from the mouth of God was, ‘what are you doing here?’

Am I the only one who finds this really funny? God asking questions with the most obvious answers in these situations. Those examples are just to mention a few. There are numerous other instances in the bible where God asked questions to people even though He knew what was up.

I got really confused and I began to think a lot on it and ask God why. Why He asked questions when He obviously knew the answer. Guess my answer? 1 Corinthians 13:7.

Make sense? I guessed not.

I wondered if this was my answer to this particular question or something else but as I meditated on it, it came to light.

Here’s the thing. The word ‘love’ in this day and age has been redefined and it would have been okay if the new meaning was at least closer to its original meaning but then it’s so sad because the new meaning is almost just the opposite of the meaning of the original word. Which is really sad because were redefining God to what He is not because God is love.

The verse says that Love bears all things. not some things, all things. It is hard to comprehend but it is what it is. Love believes all things. (this is where my answer came from but wait, i’m getting there). Love hopes for all things. It hopes in the most hopeless situations and gives that stone that was cast away an opportunity to be the chief cornerstone. And then, love endures all things. once again, all things. Not some things.

Look, love can be the sweetest thing, at the same time, it could be one of the most painful things. Do you see how some couples who were once inseparable, become monsters to each other and just so hateful towards each other? It’s the love that’s trying to be overshadowed and so hate tries to overcome the love and then hates more.

It is harder to hate someone you once loved. And I pray you never have to experience it.

The reason God asks questions when He’s found His children in places where they shouldn’t be is because He believes and hopes the best of them.

To break that down, it means that God believes in you so much to the point of questioning you to here you say otherwise. He believes the best of you which is why He waits to hear your part first despite knowing all that transpired before arriving at the scene.

I’ll give an analogy, in High school, I had an episode with a house parent because I felt very disrespected by something she said to me in public. Out of anger, I said stuff I shouldn’t have and one thing led to another, when my mum came to get me for the holidays, the woman told her. Before I could say anything, I just heard my mum ‘thats not true, my daughter would never say something that that, I know my daughter’.

At this point, I was actually contemplating denying the woman and making my mum proud that I truly would not say such but I knew better than to escalate the matter by lying. I explained it all to my mum and despite the fact she understood, I was not justified for saying anything I said.

Moral of the story? My mum believes the best of me, to the point that when people tell her something I did but she doesn’t believe I will do, she will say ‘No, my daughter would not do that, I know her’.

That’s God for us all the time. He’s saying ‘no, she wont do this, I know her, she loves me, she wont do it’. Just always believing the best of you.

Imagine how sad I felt letting my mum down when I had to say I actually did what she had heard, at first she even tried to persuade me that I didn’t do it but I couldn’t lie. I did it and then I apologised.

Imagine how God feels arriving at a scene, hoping and believing the best of you and in the end, He’s disappointed at the reality of things. Now imagine that being done every single time. How depressing. Thank God that God is not man.

It should be the same for us, God wants us to believe and hope the best for the people around us and not just the ones we love which means waiting to hear from both sides before acting on the version of one person and also being understanding of someone when they do something and admit they have done it, believe the best of them that it won’t happen again.

Love is so powerful. So powerful. And everyday, I personally discover new ways of using love to make life easier. 1 Corinthians 13 should be your daily reminder of the person you should be. Replace your name with Love and say it out to yourself every morning so that you can go out and live out who you are which is Love. As Christians, we should grow to a point where Love is not something we give or have but who we are.