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56. Should we believe everything? 1 Cor 13:7 vs. Prov 14:15, Thes 5:21, 1 Jn 4:1

Would it matter? *ahem*

1 Corinthians 13:7
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Proverbs 14:15
The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps.

1 Thessalonians 5:21
Test all things; hold fast what is good.

1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

No. Obviously. Obviously any religious text would not advocate that a person believe “all things.”

So the real question is, What’s up with 1 Corinthians 13:7?

1 Corinthians 13 is the “love chapter.” Verses 4 through 7 describes the character and nature of love. The language is increasingly poetic, and verse 7 is the climax.

A little bit of common sense would tell us that verse 7 is not to be taken literally.

It’s impossible to bear, believe, hope or endure “all things.”

I can’t bear, or endure, some things in love because love forbids their forbearance. See: Jesus turning over money changers’ tables in the temple. His love for the Father’s house, and for the people being corrupted, led Him to perfectly not endure their market.

We can even take love out of believing, or hoping, all things. It’s impossible for me to hope for peace and hope for war. It’s impossible for me to believe that the Bears and the Packers are going to win the next Superbowl.

So there have to be limitations to what is meant by “all things.” We can assume the writer means “all things” within the scope of God’s will and law. The preceding verse says that love rejoices in truth. We can’t reasonably jump from God’s truth to an all-inclusive (and impossible) “all things” in the same sentence.

What does it mean, then to believe all things that pertain to God’s truth?

This whole conversation starts with a rejection of the idea that we can do religious deeds just to rack up some kind of scorecard with God. If we don’t do our good deeds out of love, they’re worthless. God is looking for transformed people, and that only happens when we love.

Verses 4 and 5 tell us that if we love, we humble ourselves. Verse 6 tells us that if we love, we love truth. Love is fleshed out in our relationships to one another, and to God.

In this context, believing God’s truth means believing His word – about Himself and about others. We choose to believe that everyone is made in His image, that everyone is worth the cross to Him, that He is faithful, etc.

Love doesn’t do, do, do, work, work, work, strive, strive, strive. We do things because we have love, but the love in us – the love that God is – just is. It is that quiet endurance and hope, that bears what we are called to bear and believe what He asks us to believe.