We are studying the “Art of Loving” from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 on the first Sunday of each month this year. We have only three months to go, only three lessons to go. In this lesson, we look at the topic that love is optimistic – it believes all things and love hopes all things.
The actress Lucille Ball once said, “One of the things I learned the hard way was that it does not pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.” Optimism and hope are built out of a loving, God-like heart.
Christianity is thanking God for what we have not yet received but for what we hope to receive. That’s optimism. God continues to prove Himself worthy of trust; that’s why Christians should have hope.
BIBLICAL HOPE:
Jesus is probably the greatest optimist – flawless in His expectations. Probably because He trusted in the Father so much. He knew where He was going and He knew how to get there. He had a hope built on absolute trust that everything would work out in the end.
FALSE HOPE:
Hope has to be built on something solid – God’s word.
People hope in money.
They hope in possessions.
They hope in the stock market.
They hope in their physical appearance.
They hope in intelligence.
They hope in their professional credentials.
They hope in their attractiveness to those of the opposite sex.
But the world simply has no good substitute for hope in the resurrected Christ. It is especially when we reach the end of life that everything the world has offered us is futility.
Life is always going to throw us curves; serve us lemonades – whatever metaphor you want to use. Satan wants us frustrated; he wants us pessimistic because he turns our hearts away from God. The only thing we can change over those frustrations is our attitude and response. We are responsible for our attitudes and how we handle what life brings our way.
Each one of us, as Christians, represent Christ to the world, all day, every day. We cannot change reality, but we can change the way we respond to that reality. And when we realize that God is in control of reality, it helps us to “believe all things, hope all things.”
When we have trust in God and His love for us, we can be patient and give Him a chance to help. Pessimists frankly don’t expect God to help. But we’ll see Him do a lot more, and we’ll grow a lot more in our faith, when we offer Him that opportunity to show Himself faithful.
Love is optimistic. Practice that with each other and with God. It is loving like Jesus loves.
Paul Holland
