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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

But the Greatest of These is Love (Day Twenty-Four)


“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

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