"40 Days of Love" in American Sign LanguageSample

Love Expects the Best
By Rick Warren

“Love ... never stops hoping.” (1 Corinthians 13:7b GW)

Lasting love expects the best.

It’s forward-looking. It’s optimistic. It’s not stuck in the past. It’s not always looking backward. Lasting love is hopeful. The Bible says, “Love ... never stops hoping” (1 Corinthians 13:7 GW). The Living Bible translation says love will “always expect the best.” The Message paraphrase says love “always looks for the best.” The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning said, “Whoever loves believes in miracles.”

Have you noticed that people tend to live up to your expectations of them? We shape the people around us by what we expect of them. You set people up all the time. You set your wife up by what you expect of her and what you don’t expect of her. You set your friends up by what you expect and what you don’t expect.

Whatever you want the people in your life to become, treat them that way — not the way they are.

Guys, you want your wife to treat you like a king? The solution is real simple: Treat her like a queen. Emphasize the positive. Forget the nagging. Tell it like it is? No. Tell it like it can be. Start expecting the best from each other.

A family in our church went over to Chili’s after one weekend service. The waitress was very kind and asked their little boy, “Now, what would you like, sir?” After she took his order and walked away, he said, “Mommy, she treated me like I was a human!”

Love never stops hoping. Love expects the best.

Talk It Over

How have you seen your high expectations met in others? What about low expectations?

From whom in your life do you need to expect the best?

What are the things you hope for in your relationships? Do you expect God to provide those things?