However dark appearances may be, and whatever grounds there may be for questioning the sincerity of others, love still hopes that everything will be well in the end, and will maintain this position until all possibility of its being confirmed has disappeared. This faith in one’s neighbor, which love inspires, leads to the championing of his cause in the face of opposition. Love is based upon trust, and this trust rests ultimately in God; therefore love is willing to face ridicule, strife, and contempt in defense of others, hoping that in due time truth will be vindicated.

 Love suffers quietly all the difficulties, trials, persecutions, and injuries inflicted by man, and all the attacks that God may see fit to allow the adversary to make (see Job 13:15). This statement about love shows the infinite patience that is possessed by him who is always is always under the control of love. The strange behavior of others, perhaps calculated to hurt or annoy him, he patiently bears, for he sees in his fellow men souls for whom Christ died, souls that are misled by Satan, and therefore to be pitied and helped rather than condemned or treated harshly. Being the perfect exposition of the law of God, love consistently works for the best interests of others, and consequently is prepared to look upon the unfavorable conduct of others with an understanding patience and sympathy inspired by God (see Matt. 22:37-40; Rom. 13:10; 1 John 4:7, 12, 16, 18, 20, 21).

This phrase does not mean that one who loves his fellow men is credulous to the point of absurdity, making no distinction between the things to be believed, and thus as likely to believe a falsehood as the truth. But love is disposed to put the best possible construction on the conduct of others, imputing good motives to them. This is the attitude of love, because love seeks to make others happy and will not believe anything to their detriment except on irrefutable evidence. In relation to God, love believes without question everything that is revealed of the will of God for man. There is no doubt concerning God’s Word and His instructions; all is gratefully accepted and obeyed.

Gr. stegō, “to cover closely,” “to protect by covering”; “to sustain,” “to support.” Love conceals and is silent about such things as the faults of others, which the selfishness of the natural heart would gladly expose. Love is not desirous of inspecting the weaknesses of others or of allowing them to be inspected by anyone else.