An excellent example of how this works is a story from Bruce Wilkinson, an author and teacher. Years ago he was a new professor at Multnomah University, and at the first faculty meeting, he received his class assignments. Another professor saw his sheet and said, “Bruce, you’ve been given two of the section A classes. They’re the brightest students in the university. They’re really engaged and a joy to teach. You’re fortunate to have section A students in your first year.”

Bruce discovered that to be true—he absolutely loved teaching those kids. They were so much more fun to teach than the other classes. They were smarter and asked better questions.

At the end of the year, Bruce told his department supervisor, “Man, I sure hope I get the section A classes again next year!” The supervisor told him, “Bruce, there is no section A. We canceled that program six years ago.”

When Bruce went back and checked his grade books, he found that those “section A” classes may not have been advanced placement, but they got more A’s and wrote more thoughtful term papers than his other classes. Bruce realized that because he expected them to be better students, they rose to the challenge.

Throughout your life, you will shape the people around you by your expectations of them. When you expect the best from others, you are reflecting the lasting love of Jesus.

The apostle Paul tells us that love does not nag or perpetually bring up past mistakes. The Bible says, “Love . . . always looks for the best” (1 Corinthians 13:7 The Message). Lasting love is forward-looking. It’s optimistic.

Lasting love is full of hope.