“And
now these three remain: faith, hope, and
love.
But
the greatest of these is love.”
1
Corinthians 13:13
Paul
wrote the book of Corinthians after receiving disturbing reports that the
church was having difficulties with divisions and immorality. He was trying to fix some of the doctrinal
issues that the church was facing.
In
the portion of Scripture we are looking at here we see where Paul was telling
the Corinthians that when everything else was stripped away these were the three
areas left that should be the main focus.
These topics are important not only to the church corporately but individually
as well.
We
see in Romans 4 where Paul cites Abraham as our faith giant. Here is a man that believed that God would do
as He stated. To this Abraham was
counted as righteous, although he understood that he could do nothing before
God to make himself righteous.
Next
we find hope. This is closely linked to
faith because it is the tool by which we hold onto God’s promises. Not unlike our thinking today, we aren’t
certain something will happen, but cling to the hope that it does. Some things we hope for may happen right away
whereas other things God may not bring about for a while. Abraham was a good example of this when he
held onto the hope that God said he would be the father of many nations. At his ripe old age that was surely something
to behold! For us as Christians, our
greatest hope is having eternal life through Jesus Christ. Because of this promise, we should be less
concerned with what the world has to offer and focus our eyes on above.
Romans
5 clearly tells us to exalt in our tribulations. If we can remain faithful to praise our Lord
during our darkest of nights, we can persevere. This helps build a stronger, more determined
character which is helpful in our resilience to future attacks. With our focus of concern on the spiritual
rather than on the daily worldly grind, we can grab hold of and continue with
an unwavering hope in Christ.
Paul
finishes up by emphasizing the most important virtue of all…Love.
Even
within the church people are good at judging one another. People can be seen as spiritual giants by
their apparent service to the Lord. You
may be thinking how godly someone is because they serve in many ministries or because
they donate money to a ministry outreach.
However, we can never know the motive of the heart…only God can. These individuals may seem very generous, but
what Paul is telling us is that without love these all pass away.
We
need to demonstrate faith…live faith.
Again, understand that we can do nothing in and of ourselves to be seen
as righteous before God for His grace is sufficient. How do you demonstrate your faith? Do you rely on God for all of your
needs?
…your
decisions
…your
finances
Or,
do you continue to plod along in your own strength?
Now,
let’s focus on your spiritual barometer.
Are you demonstrating the hope that lie within…our eternal hope in
Christ Jesus? Perhaps you are too
focused on the world and what is happening around you instead of the spiritual
matters. I encourage you to cling to the
hope you have in Him and in doing so you will bring glory to God.
Love
should be the center of all we do. Nothing
should be done out of obligation or pride.
Recently, my husband surprised me with a family luncheon and a “getaway”
in celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary. The months of planning and secrecy were his
demonstration of love for me. His
motives were to honor me and his plans reflected this. The same holds true for our Maker. Our zeal for Him will be found in our
treatment of one another.
Take
a moment to ponder the following:
Is it an inconvenience when someone
requests your time or do you take
pleasure?
Are you easily angered in lieu of
patience?
Do you judge others instead of
encouraging?
If
you answered yes to any of these, then you are lacking God’s love. Remember that it is His love that has been
poured out into our hearts (Romans 5:5) so that we can love one another.
Only
by getting back to the basics can we be effective for the church.
But the greatest of these is
LOVE
Forever
His,
Anita
