Believing the best does not mean “believes everything that we hear to be fact,” “refuses to believe that someone committed a wrong,” willful gullibility, or denial of anything negative. That is not loving, but lying. Solomon cautions us here: “The naïve believes everything, but the sensible considers his steps” (Prov. 14:15). To believe “all things” needs to be understood in the context of 1 Corinthians. 

It was a few months after surgery and the bills started arriving. Thirty thousand for this, forty for that. My medical bills were racking up. Thankfully, the co-op to which I belong (and my godly wife) had a handle on things and were coming through in the clutch. But there was one reimbursement that was absent, and it was a big one. A check from a co-op member in the sum of about $20,000 was supposed to come in to pay the hospital, but it was late. One month. Then two. I lost my cool on more than on occasion. “Where is that check?!” “Who is this person keeping us hanging like that?” “What is their problem? Don’t they know that we have six-figure bills here?”

Then my wife got the letter. Along with the check was an apology from the individual. “I am so sorry that this is late. I have cancer and am going through rounds of chemotherapy right now, and, because of that, have been experiencing memory loss.”

I wanted to crawl into a cave and never return. The Holy Spirit necessarily and lovingly crushed me with conviction. The judgmental spirit. The speed with which I assumed the worst. It was sinful. And it’s something I have struggled with far too often.

“Love…believes all things” (1 Cor. 13:4, 7). Love believes the best about one another.

Believing the best does not mean “believes everything that we hear to be fact,” “refuses to believe that someone committed a wrong,” willful gullibility, or denial of anything negative. That is not loving, but lying. Solomon cautions us here: “The naïve believes everything, but the sensible considers his steps” (Prov. 14:15).

To believe “all things” needs to be understood in the context of 1 Corinthians. The church struggled with self-exalting attitudes, a self-preferring demeanor, pride, and, consequently, a lack of love for each other. There was suspicion, cynicism, and judgmentalism. And it was unacceptable for people claiming the great name of Jesus Christ. Believing the best about one another is an essential form of loving one another (1 Cor. 13:4-7).

One way that believing the best could be defined is this: erring on the side of believing a favorable reality of another’s actions and attitudes as opposed to suspicion or cynicism, until clear evidence shows otherwise.

Love errs on the side of believing a favorable reality. We are to believe the best for at least two reasons. First, we are not omniscient like God. We do not know everything about others’ motivations, circumstances, hurts, trials, and complicating life situations. If we were not present, we do not know exactly what happened or what was said. Second, we believe the best because we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. The combination of the two looks like believing the best.

But too often we are bent on suspicion, cynicism, and judgmentalism. “I’m sure they did that because…” “I bet they said that because [insert unfavorable conclusion]…” Really? Are we omniscient? Do we have infallible insight into another’s motivations? It’s best to remain cautious of making a conclusion about someone until we know the information. We are to beware of thinking that we know everything going on with other’s motivations, thoughts, situations, actions, and complicating struggles. When we fail to believe the best so as to come to an uninformed, incorrect, and condemning conclusion, we hate the person and commit the sin of judging (cf. Matt. 7:1).

Additionally, failing to believe the best is often a worship problem; a form of idolatry. We worship our own wisdom and opinions with the result that we think that we have things all figured out. Subsequently, we may make presumptuous, judgmental conclusions, and believe the worst. We hold an inflated view of our own discernment, our intellect, and our ability to figure things out, such that we quickly adjudicate matters, while feeling proud of ourselves for doing so. Perhaps at the root of it all is idolatry: we have made an idol out of our own thinking abilities.

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