What Does the Bible Mean About ‘Love Always Hopes?’

The Bible tells us that when it comes to faith, hope, and love, love will always be the greatest (1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.). This doesn’t undermine the importance of hope and faith, but it emphasizes the utmost importance of choosing love even when faith and hope may be compromised. Hope is very important in the past, present, and future of any relationship. What is a relationship without hopeful expectation and confidence in the ones you love?

Loving with hope enables us to forgive past hurts and move on to rebuild broken relationships. It inspires us to hold on to our relationships no matter the hardships or strains currently happening. Love that hopes gives us reason to look forward to great and exciting possibilities of relational development.

The word “hope” used in 1 Corinthians 13:7 is translated from the Greek word elpizō, which means “to hopefully to trust in” or, in a religious sense, “to wait for salvation with joy and full confidence.” Love that always hopes, always puts confidence in the goodness of others, and is always ready to respond in grace through the worst of times. 

Relationships go through dark times, but without hope in them, fear, desperation, hatred, or distrust can make everything collapse into total darkness. Hope points to the light at the end of the tunnel. It brings the vision of a bright future amid hopelessness. But unconditional love is a very important ingredient in hope. It is love that keeps any person persevering despite the gloom and doom of hopelessness.

Hopelessness comes naturally in our dark and fallen world. Families, marriages, nations, and generations upon generations suffer in this endless void of hopelessness. But that can end through Christ. Unconditional love that brings hope can be found only in Jesus Christ. He is the light of the world; the light that dispels all the in our relationship with God and others.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

(John 8:12 KJV)

His love allows us to break down the walls of hopelessness and empowers us to love beyond the challenges. The Gospel can heal and renew the brokenness that is caused by sin, the world, and the devil. 

We have seen stories of relationships being healed and rejuvenated after an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. A man who grew up in a broken family never wanted to have his own family. By the time he was in college, he was so filled with hatred for his dad that he sought to beat him up someday. When the Gospel came into his life, all that changed. He was able to release forgiveness, and even his view of starting his own family was changed. Now, he has his own family, and they are happily serving God.

There was also one couple that got separated because of the husband’s adultery. Then the wife got saved and became part of a church community. Later, with a certain turn of events, her husband was forced to come back and live with them again. Because of the love of God in her that always hoped, she kept on praying and serving her husband despite his apathetic treatment of her. There came a time when her husband was won over by her love and her hope. The husband too received Christ in his life, and their family was eventually restored. Now, that is the power of hope that the love of God brings. There is no hopeless sin that God cannot forgive. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he forgiven our sins (Psalm 103:12). In God, there is no heart too hard to change. 

“[26] A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

(Ezekiel 36:26-27 KJV)

Ultimately, a love that truly hopes and sees the happy ending to that hope is anchored by faith in the Gospel. It is upon the unchangeable character of God that we put our trust in. His love for us is unchanging and unfailing. And if we put our whole life into His hands, we are sure that we too can have a love that always hopes.

“And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”

(Deuteronomy 31:8 KJV)