Attributes of Love by MOPS InternationalSample

Love Bears All Things

There is a ride at our local zoo called the Sky Safari. It is kind of like a ski lift that dangles you 40 feet in the air by a single wire over African animals. It’s supposed to be a calm and lovely way to view the animals, but to me it’s neither calm nor lovely.

I am not a fan of heights, mostly because I am afraid of falling from them, and this ride adds the possibility of hitting a giraffe on the way down. But on our last trip to the zoo, my family was convinced we needed to ride the Sky Safari. I mustered up my courage and ended up all alone on my specific “ski lift” chair. I sat on my little chair way up high trying to enjoy the animals; however, I soon turned my attention to the people in the little yellow chairs that ran parallel to me in the opposite direction. There were some filled with adults marveling at the view, others with teenagers hopelessly trying to high five the passengers across the way and several carried moms and kids. I noticed that each and every mom had in some way positioned herself around her children—holding a child’s arm or each of her children’s waists, all in an effort to keep them from falling out of this one-bar wonder toward the giraffes below. It surprised me how universal the “mama seatbelt” is. It’s as if each mom was saying, “If all else fails, I’m here for you.” Because that’s what moms do—we cover, protect, and love our kids.

First Corinthians 13:7 tells us that God covers and protects us in His love in a much more powerful way than a “mama seatbelt.” Love bears all things. In the Greek, the word love is translated agape, meaning the love that is of and from God. This agape love bears all things. In this verse, the word bears is the Greek word stegō, meaning to protect and cover, life a roof. Agape love protects and covers all things.

The Bible talks a lot about how God covers us. Psalm 91:4 compares this protection to the mama bird who pulls her babies under her wings. Psalm 139:5 says God’s protection hems us in. God surrounds and protects us on all sides. Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:9 and John 1:29 show us that ultimately, God covers us with the blood of Christ to protect us from eternal separation from Him. All because He loves us.

God directs us to love and protect others in the same agape way—loving, protecting and covering all things.

Consider this:

How can you cover, protect, and shield another in love today? Is there a friend or child who could use a “mama seat belt”? A bit of gossip you can stop in its tracks? A family who could use a little help buying birthday gifts for their children? A prayer you can offer up? A hand you can hold? Friends, we don’t want to lose anyone to the giraffes.