“It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:7).
I used to read 1 Corinthians 13 as though I could love people the way it described. I know that God can help me to do it, but this kind of love is so perfect and so deep I fear I could never love anyone that way on my own.
I understand that 1 Corinthians 13 describes the kind of love that God has for us. One thing that overwhelms me about God’s love for me is this: no matter how I disappoint Him, God always has hope for me.
One of my personal heroines is a friend of my mother’s. She is in her 70’s and last year her husband died. Her daughter and her family live far away from her. She lives alone with her son who is severely mentally ill. This man cannot live a normal life and is in and out of the hospital. His mother has taken care of him for 30 years.
Here is what is so amazing: She always talks about her son with gentle understanding. She is never tired of him.
She always knows he is doing his very best. She never gives up. She is always hopeful.
In my heart, I questioned God. It seems the lives of this mother and her son are wasted. His answer to me was: this mother’s love is a living picture of My love for the world.
In the face of continual disappointment, God never gives up on us. He is always hopeful.
Kimberly Snider is a missionary to the Philippines.
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