What does it mean that love always trusts (1 Corinthians 13:7)?

Love as Action in 1 Corinthians 13:7

What does it mean that love always trusts? We're going to answer that question. You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org. In 1 Corinthians 13 7 we see that love is more than an abstraction or ideal.

It is action. Four specific actions are always performed by true love and the second is that love always trusts or believes all things. First we should understand what this description of love does not mean.

The fact that love believes all things does not make a loving person a dupe. Neither does it mean that love is naive, undiscerning, or credulous. We are not talking about gullibility here and a foolish lack of skepticism is not a part of love.

The Greek word translated as believes means to believe, place faith in, or trust. The root word is a common one used 248 times in the New Testament. Many times this word is found in contexts in which belief is an expression of love.

How Christian Love Refuses Suspicion

Those who love will always believe in the other person. There's no second guessing or questioning of whether the person should be loved. Love is simply given. It is unconditional. The loved one does not need to perform anything or achieve a certain goal in order to be loved.

Just as Christ loves his children unconditionally, he calls us to love others. Love is based on who he is, not on what others do. Some scholars suggest that this teaching of love always trusts is directly connected to Paul's rebuke of believers bringing lawsuits against one another.

Love that always trusts would not do such a thing. A person with God's type of love will always trust. That is, he will not be suspicious of the one he loves. He will be slow to believe any damaging news and will always give the benefit of the doubt.

To trust someone means that you are ever ready to believe the best of him or her. The loved one may in some way be undeserving of trust, yet true love is able to look past that and meet the need of the individual.

Trusting One Another in the Church

If brothers and sisters in Christ would believe in one another, setting suspicion aside and extending unconditional love, what a difference it would make in the church. When our focus is on Christ, we can show his love to meet the needs of others.

Faith, hope, and love. The Christian need never be without these gifts. His nature is to believe and to love. That answers the question, what does it mean that love always trusts? On our website, gotquestions .org, you'll find a deeper discussion and recommended resources.

If this helped you, give us a thumbs up and click subscribe. Meanwhile, if you'd like to study more, click the bell and check out these other questions.