Love · October 23, 2021 0

Love Always Trusts

If I speak in the tongues Or languages of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13, NIV

Dear Christian,

One of the difficult things about trust: It’s hard to earn, and easy to break. However, Godly love is not broken. In a non-fallen world, this would be easy. With everyone loving perfectly, it isn’t dangerous for me to trust others because I know they love me perfectly as I love them. Once again, though, that’s not the world that we live in right now.

I think it’s important to point out that ‘love always trusts’ is not asking you to be naive or gullible. It’s simply asking us to always give our loved one the benefit of the doubt.

A few nights ago, ‘A’ woke up screaming around 2 in the morning (again). My husband very rarely wakes up to her crying before me, but on this particular night, he did. This man had the audacity to wake me up and let me know that our daughter was crying rather than just going and taking care of it himself. I was not happy. It took two hours of bottles, rocking, cuddles, hand holding, and re-arranging before ‘A’ finally found sleep again.

The next morning: I’m tired, I’m cranky, and I’m still frustrated with my husband. 

So I tell him ‘Husband, why did you wake me up last night instead of dealing with ‘A’ yourself. And he looks at me confused. It’s in that moment, that I remember that he sleep talks. He seems completely lucid, but he’s 100% still asleep. Turns out, he doesn’t remember any of it. 

How different would those 2 hours have been for me if I had trusted that he wasn’t asking me to do it all on my own? How much more likely would I have been to ask him for help when ‘A’ kept fighting me? (The answer, much more likely. But hey, pride.) My husband (when awake) is always there to help get ‘A’ back down on rough nights. When my patience starts to fade he’s quick to step in. I know that. So why did I think that in this moment he was different?

In that moment, I was not trusting, and I certainly was not loving my husband.

Do you have a similar moment? I’d love to hear about it.

Love,
Ashley