This homily was originally delivered on Sunday, July 6th, 2025 to Trinity Church in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
1 Corinthians 13:7
“[Love] believes all things, [and] hopes all things”
In our verse this morning, the Apostle describes the nature and characteristics of love. Here he writes that love believes all things and hopes all things. By this, Paul does not mean that love is hopelessly hopeful or naive and gullible. Love does incline us to think the best of one another, certainly, as Paul wrote earlier, love thinks no evil. But here, by saying that love believes and hopes all things, he refers to Jesus. Love believes and hopes in all that Jesus, as the Word of God, has spoken.
When we love Jesus, our Lord and God, what goes along with this love? We take Him to be faithful and true. Our hearts are bound to Him in love, and that love, poured out into our hearts by God our Father, leads us to take to heart all that He has said and promised. Love for Jesus leads us to believe all that He has spoken to us and to hope for all that He has promised to us. Thus, love believes all things and hopes all things.
Love for Jesus is tied to clinging to His word, treasuring it, hoping in it, believing it—and all of it, not just the parts that give you warm fuzzies.
Peter, the foremost of the disciples, learned this the hard way. He professed love for Jesus, swearing he would remain with Him even if everyone else forsook Him, saying valiantly, “I’ll die with you.” But Jesus knew Peter’s bluster. Peter professed great loyalty and love for Jesus, but that love was tested.
Before His death, Jesus told His disciples, especially Peter, several times how it would go. He told them repeatedly that He, the Son of Man, must suffer many things, be rejected and killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly, Mark writes. But when this word came to pass, what happened? When Jesus was betrayed and taken away, Peter’s love for Jesus was smothered by fear. When asked not once, not twice, but three times whether he was a friend to Jesus, whether he would own Jesus as the whole world turned away from Him, how did Peter respond? Did he firmly trust all that Jesus had told him? Did he keep Jesus’ word? Did he remember, believe, and set his hope in his Lord? We know how it went. Peter denied Jesus three times, denying the friend he said he would die for, the one he claimed to love.
Peter’s love for Jesus was small. It grew cold and withered away, and so did his faith and hope. As a result, Peter denied his Lord in fear, cowardice, and unbelief.
When Jesus resurrected and spoke with Peter again, He made a point of reminding Peter of this, lovingly, so he might learn from it. What question did He ask of Peter? Three times, matching his three denials, Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” He denied Him three times because his love was cold, but now Jesus asks: Do you love Me? Do you love Me? Do you love Me?
This was a lesson for Peter, and he learned it well. He went on to hold fast to Jesus’ word, to believe all that was told to him, to set his heart firmly in it. This is seen not only in his letters but in Peter’s life. Peter would be martyred, bearing witness to this hope, suffering, and dying for it.
Now, what about you? Do you love Jesus? We would all profess to love Jesus, right? I hope so. But is that substantiated by your faith, by your hope? Are you clinging to His word, treasuring it up, holding fast to it in all seasons, especially seasons of trial when His word seems most uncertain? Or, do you give way to fear, to anxiety over finances, to fretting over what people think of you, to anger and frustration about car problems, marital strife, or your singleness? Do you love Jesus?
The Lord has come to test you. How are you doing? Has your love grown cold, has it withered away, and with it your faith and hope? As Jesus asked of Peter, so He asks of us: “Do you love Me?” Do you love Jesus? If you do, trust Him. Trust and treasure all that He has spoken to you. Set your heart firmly in all that He has promised you, and don’t give way to unbelief and its bitter fruit. Love Jesus, cast your cares and concerns upon Him, and lead those under your charge to do the same.
This reminds us that our love for our Lord is far too small. We need the Spirit of God to breathe new life into us, but first we need His forgiveness for our coldness.