Faith, Hope, Love

Throughout my home, I have decorative items with this phrase written on them. These words have always touched me deeply because when we truly get to the heart of things, Jesus Christ is the embodiment of all three. And…just think, little old me, a sinner saved by grace, has access to Him! Access to Jesus affords me, and all believers, access to the greatest love that humanity can ever imagine. Once the love of Jesus is firmly implanted in our hearts we will have the capability and responsibility to pour forth that purified and living love on the rest of the world to lead others to Him!

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love, “(1Cor. 13:13).

Why did Paul write these words? Aside from explaining the priorities that the Corinthians needed to examine carefully, Paul wanted to direct them correctly. Corinth had become a morally corrupt place. I think that their version of love was very similar to today's world. It had been twisted into a physical, idolatrous, or self-gratifying thing. Love bore an ugly face caked with the mud thick make-up and fake smiles of prostitution and compromise. It led the Corinthians into sin and does the same with us.   The enemy has wised up a bit with us it seems. He has painted his games and temptations with a lovely hue and draws us ever toward sin with tantalizing sounds and sensual visions. Certainly, this is not a love that flows from the heart of God.

A Bible handbook that I use states, “Corinth was a busy, cosmopolitan trading port. Paul had founded the church during a brief stay there. The church included some highborn members, but was composed mainly of people such as artisans, freedman, and slaves. Paul wrote to them to point out their unacceptable behavior. Some of them, perhaps the richer and better-educated, were claiming superior wisdom, spiritual insight and status. This supposed superiority allowed them to engage in immorality and idolatry and caused them to despise the less sophisticated believers as weak and foolish in their faith…”Paul's letter then, was written to give order to the   conduct of Christian life and faith. He clearly instructed that love, not condescending contempt is of primary importance. It is the way of excellent Christian living precisely because it IS of God.

Romans 5:1-2 explains, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” Peace with God means that we are reconciled with Him! There is no longer sin blocking us from developing a living, growing relationship with our Savior. Our relationship with God begins with faith which shows that we are delivered from our past by Christ's death. We have been set free!

I recently read an article that said that at least 1/3 of the population of North America professes to believe in Christ. Yet many surveys show a decline in morality, not just among the unchurched, but among the churched as well. There is a constant droning noise in the world tugging and pulling and distracting, and finally yanking our attention from the ONE who really matters. It is easy to become distracted by everything thrust at us. It happened to the Israelites. Moses tried to instruct them to stay focused on God. He challenged them to remember their deliverance from Egypt and how God had provided for them on their journeys. He reminded them to hear and listen to the statutes repeatedly, to learn them and take them into their hearts and finally to observe them, which meant that they needed to make them a way of life. This reminder to stay single-minded in faith holds true for us as well. Faith that is alive and growing needs to be on display for the world to witness. One of my commentaries states, “Spiritual strength and health means integrating our faith with every area of life. Faith is not just one more thing on a list of a hundred things, but rather the foundation of who we are. If our walk with Christ is real, it should become evident to others. (James 2:14, 26; 3:13).”

We learn as we live the Christian life that hoping for that which is other than Christ is hope-LESS. Our world is full of pain, hurt, disappointment and loss. The needs of those living without Christ are mountainous. Jeremiah demonstrated how to approach human need. In Lamentations 3:1-18, he witnessed the devastation after Jerusalem's fall and reflected on the despair. However, in verses 21-26, he recognized that the ONLY hope for his people was the hope in God's mercy, compassion, faithfulness and goodness.

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

We have an awesome and life-giving message of hope to share—that hope is Jesus Christ. That does not mean that we have the answers to all of life's problems. It does mean though, that we have Him with us through every trial, every defeat, and every valley of Achor. Like Joel who faced locusts, death and the trembling earth on the day of the Lord, we need to repent and be restored to a deep relationship with our Savior. HE is where our hope lies. The neon sign shining on the darkened highways of our lives is not dimmed by the pains and disappointments we suffer. It beckons like a blazing and fiery super-word that outshines the empty and dull ones being dumped daily into our starving hearts. That word is hope. Hope floats ever upward…

Psalm 31:24 explains beautifully, “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” We gain Spiritual strength and intestinal fortitude when we place our hope in Him; He is our Answer, our Protector, our Teacher, and the Lover of our souls. He jealously guards us from evil and directs us toward the Father. Our eyes will never be blinded by the world's fog with the light of His hope before us.

We have an abundance of instruction on Love throughout Scripture. The most eloquently quoted perhaps is 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.”

We have a perfect snapshot of how Christian love needs to look to the world, but most importantly, how it is to BE within us. God leaves absolutely NOTHING out when He speaks to us through His Word. Every single area of connection, communication, motive, intent and focus is addressed. Whenever I examine my own behavior in almost any situation, I hold it up to this consummate mirror of what Jesus Christ desires for us. We are taught in Ephesians 5:1-2 to, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Our culture seems to have swallowed the lie. The lie that originates with the enemy is that love is about our emotions. It is described, depicted and frequently acted upon as sexual passion or devotion. My commentary states,” By this measure, love is little more than an uncontrollable attraction toward another person that ebbs and flows unconsciously.” When we allow our emotions to rule that which is a Holy Spirit-driven and Jesus-funneled gift of purity, we are shaking a fist in the face of our Savior's sacrifice for us. For you see, HIS sacrifice embodies ALL that real love IS! “God IS Love.” One of the key tests of our commitment to Christ is our love for others. Our words, attitudes and actions express our love, for what is in our hearts is eventually expressed outwardly. John 13:34 tells us, in Jesus' words, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This is not a mere suggestion, it is a well-coordinated and perfect command that will demonstrate not just our paltry human love, (thankfully GOD'S love flows in our veins), but our transformed hearts overflowing with the love of Christ, to others. This will lead them to seek Him through that love! There is something so very tantalizing about a shimmering drop of dew hanging precariously on the tip of a spring-green leaf—that is what this love looks like to those who are seeking.

Agape love is the type of love that Jesus is talking about. Agape love requires a conscious choice. It is a verb. It requires less of us and more of Him to serve sacrificially. Agape love is clearly demonstrated in God's love for the world. John 3:16 explains, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We are called to nothing less. Jesus stated that the greatest of the three commands was love because He realized that our hearts are malleable when filled with His love. We are moved to action by the spur of His love, propelled forward into the darkest of hearts and minds with the fullness of His love and willing to overlook and not judge when in the throes of profound, meaningful Jesus-love.

With faith, hope and love as the bedrock of our relationship with God, nothing…nothing will rival the power we have to move mountains for the Kingdom!