Love Hopes

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I Corinthians 13:7 (NKJV) “(Love)…hopes all things...”

Think

Love hopes. It doesn’t give up, even when everything seems lost. Imagine the father of the prodigal son. His son had insulted him, squandered his inheritance, and left home for a life of reckless indulgence. The father had every reason to close his heart, to assume his son would never return. But he didn’t. Day after day, the father watched the horizon. Hope kept him going. Hope kept his heart soft. Love held on to the belief that this wasn’t the end of his son’s story.

This kind of hope, described in 1 Corinthians 13:7, comes from the Greek elpizei—a confident expectation in something good. It’s not blind optimism or ignoring reality. The father wasn’t denying his son’s rebellion or his own pain. But love gave him the strength to believe in what God could do, even when the circumstances screamed otherwise.

You can imagine the father waking up every morning, scanning the road as he worked. Maybe the neighbors whispered, “He’s wasting his time.” Maybe his own heart wrestled with doubt. But he kept looking. And one day, hope was rewarded. As soon as he saw his son in the distance, the father didn’t hesitate. He ran to him—not with a list of grievances or conditions, but with open arms and overwhelming grace.

That’s the kind of love Paul describes—a love that hopes because it trusts in God’s power to restore. It’s a love that refuses to give up on people, that keeps praying, keeps believing, and keeps waiting for redemption.

Here’s the challenge: Who or what have you stopped hoping for? A wayward child, a broken relationship, or a prayer that seems unanswered? Like the father of the prodigal son, fix your eyes on the horizon. Pray for God to renew your hope and trust him to bring restoration in his time. Love hopes because it knows that with God, no story is ever finished.

Apply

Pray with expectation. Identify one person or situation you’ve stopped praying for. Ask God to renew your hope and trust him to work, even when you can’t see immediate results. Write their name down and commit to praying for them daily this week.

Pray

Lord, help me to love with a hope that doesn’t give up, trusting in your power to restore and redeem even the most broken situations. Renew my heart to believe in your promises, and give me the strength to wait with faith and patience. In Jesus’ name. Amen.