The Strength of Love

[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7

Hawkeye, the adopted Mohican hero of James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, must escape approaching soldiers. In the film version, before jumping into a river, he tells Cora, his love, “You’re strong! You survive! You stay alive, no matter what occurs. I will find you! No matter how long it takes, no matter how far. I will find you!”

And he does! That is a story line throughout great literature—the power of true love to endure. But not just romantic love. It could be the love of family, the love of country, or the love of God and His truth. Courage based on love is a powerful human force. But when courage is fueled by the agape (selfless) love of God, we know that nothing can separate us from Him (Romans 8:35-39). Thus Paul wrote: “[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Love is strong not based on human strength but on the conviction that God’s perfect will covers all. His strength is manifest in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

Your love for God will allow you to do what Christ did: to say, “Not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

We are called upon to reflect the love of God as much in trial as in tranquility.
John Blanchard