Love bears all things [regardless of what comes]…(1 Corinthians 13:7 AMP)
REFLECTION
While prayerfully pondering this verse, I was prompted to dive deeper and prayerfully explore commentaries about it, and I found the following excerpt from bibleref.com which resonated and rings true:
“Love bears all things. Love doesn’t say, “this far and no further.” Love is not limited by what is reasonable or by what other people would be willing to put up with. This does not mean that someone should allow him- or herself to continually be wounded, physically or otherwise, by other believers or family members. Sometimes love bears pain from a safe and legal distance, but truly godly love doesn’t quit when others become annoying or difficult to deal with.”
I agree that sometimes we don’t need to be in a close relationship with someone to lovingly help them. If their words and/or actions are causing harm, we can love them from a safe distance by praying for them, not gossiping about them. That said, I’ve found this to be particularly challenging in my role as a teacher, because I have had to deal with many difficult and dysfunctional children (and families). And while working through issues with a view to finding solutions, sometimes the line between gossip and helpful discussion would get a bit blurry. But, thank God, we can pray and ask our wise Maker to “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3 NIV) and whenever we sense a conversation is becoming toxic, whereby we know we are self-righteously judging, we can remind ourselves (and others) to stay aware that we are all in process and focus on seeking to understand, so as to better help / support others, with compassion not judgement. I’ve found that being prayerfully solution orientated and keeping names and details within the group dealing with the actual issues has been effective. Whatever the reality may be, I’m so grateful that we can always ask our perfectly compassionate Creator for help, who knows in full what we only know in part.
PRAYER POEM: Grace
Lord…teach me, correct me and lead me into deeper intimacy.
Keep me close to You ~ far from sin and strife, for Your grace is sufficient in the tests and trials of life.
May Your love be my language in every situation, for You are the living, loving Lord of all creation.
