1 Corinthians 13:13 KJV
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
We know what faith and hope are, and we know they are mandatory, in the life of a Christian.
Our faith is our trust and confidence in God. Knowing that God is in control and trusting all things to Him.
Our hope is our confident expectations to be received from our Father in Heaven. Faith and hope are a pair and always accompany each other.
The opposite of hope is despair which is defined as the complete loss or absence of hope.
Can you imagine waking up every morning with no hope? Waking up with absolutely nothing to look forward to? Without Christ in their lives, many people do. Others living without Christ, put their hope in their job or financial security, among other things.
And I would daresay that the lack of faith is equally a life of despair.
It is only through faith that we can be reconciled to God, accepting Christ as our Savior.
Those who do not know Christ as their Savior, have no faith in God or the promise of eternal life that He gives to His children. Therefore, thinking long term, where is their hope?
But to the Christian, hope and faith are a lifeline to God and they grow stronger as we grow spiritually.
Through our “valleys” and on our mountaintops, we survive and thrive through our faith, hope and relationship with God, through Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:8 KJV
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Hebrews 4:16 KJV
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Romans 15:13 KJV
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Even with Faith and Hope, WITHOUT Love, we are Nothing
Paul tells us that regardless of the importance of faith and hope, if we have them WITHOUT love, we are nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-4 KJV
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up
- Paul is teaching us that without love, we are just noise makers.
- Without love we are nothing.
- And without love, all of our works profit us nothing.
What Does Christ Teach Us About Love?
Let us now look at what Christ teaches us about love.
The very gift of grace and mercy, through the cross and blood of Jesus, is nothing but the greatest example of love. God’s love.
Therefore, we as children of God are to exhibit that same love to all others. Including our enemies.
Christ, our Redeemer and Lord, said in the two greatest commandments that love is at the heart of reconciliation with God.
We see these instructions in the Gospels of Matthew and John.
Matthew 22:36-40 KJV
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
John 13:34-35 KJV
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
As a child of God, we must have faith, hope and love. But the greatest and most important of these, is LOVE.
Paul is teaching us that faith and hope are essential foundation blocks in our Christian life, but love is even more important than these.
Christ tells us explicitly that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our hearts, souls and minds. AND the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves. He could not be clearer in His words.
Our faith and hope must be exhibited with the love that Christ taught us to have, otherwise our faith and hope will be meaningless to those who we might influence.
AND, our spiritual life will be shallow and fake. In other words, we will be like the Pharisee who stands in prayer, praying that he is proud that he is not like the publican.
It is clear that as a child of God, we are to exhibit the love of Christ in our daily lives.
First, our love for God and second, our love for all of his creation.
If this is lacking, we have what I call the “Pharisaic attitude” and our faith and hope are in vain.
Let our words and actions each day, display the love of Christ to our small circle of the world.
RVH