"[Love] always trusts." (1
Corinthians 13:7b NIV)
Is
it possible to have love without trust?
Not according to 1 Cor.
13:7!
Why?
Because love is simply given, and there is no
question as to whether the recipient of the love should be loved or not.
We simply trust that they are deservant of our love. Love is
unconditional, and the one who is loved one does not need to do anything
in order to be loved.
During the Christmas season at school, many
teachers encourage students to give gifts to one another. Students often
draw names and bring in an unmarked gift for the person whose name they
drew. The recipients of the gifts always have fun trying to guess who
brought in their present. Naturally, there was always a 10$ limit on the
presents...
During my first year of teaching in Canada, I was
placed in a school way up in the north. We decided as a class to have a
gift exchange, and the dollar limit was set. Unfortunately, one child,
who we will call John, did not respect that limit and brought in a
remote controlled car. I don't know how much he spent, but it was well
over the 10$ limit!
I felt really bad for John, especially when
the gift he was given turned out to be ordinary candy...
But John wasn't unhappy at all. All the
thanks he needed was written on the face of the child, who we will call
Charlie, who had received the car.
John would later tell
me with a big smile that he had been really happy to receive Charlie's
name. Not because Charlie was his best friend. In fact, John didn't even
know Charlie very well. He said that the only thing he really knew was
that Charlie's family was very poor and his parents would not be able to
give him a special Christmas. He trusted that Charlie deserved a special
Christmas. Even though John didn't get much in return for what he had
given, he wore a big smile on his face for the rest of the day. He was
just so excited to have made someone happy for Christmas.
What a
kid! John's unconditional love simply trusted that Charlie deserved a
special Christmas, giving us a great example of the true meaning of 1
Cor. 13:7: Giving love unconditionally, not worrying if the recipient is
deserving of love, not worrying about what we will receive in return.
Love always trusts, no strings attached!
Rob Chaffart