“Love…rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
1 Corinthians 13:6-7
Faith, hope, and love are the length, breadth, and depth of the Christian life. A faithless Christian, a hopeless Christian, or a loveless Christian is a contradiction in terms. These three need each other and rely upon one another. Hope comes alive when we are born again to faith (1 Peter 1:3). Faith works itself out in love (Galatians 5:6). Love labors in the steadfastness of hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3). Neither hope nor love can exist without faith, yet love is the highest end of both faith and hope. So love is the greatest of the three.
You see, unlike faith and hope, whose object is God, love extends to both God and neighbor. “Everyone derives advantage from his own faith and hope, but love extends its benefits to others” (John Calvin, 1509-1564). Furthermore, love not only penetrates into the hallowed heights of God’s heart, it also pursues us into the unholy depths of our sin. Love believes all things and hopes all things, but whenever disappointed, it also bears all things and endures all things.
You see, unlike faith and hope, whose object is God, love extends to both God and neighbor. “Everyone derives advantage from his own faith and hope, but love extends its benefits to others” (John Calvin, 1509-1564). Furthermore, love not only penetrates into the hallowed heights of God’s heart, it also pursues us into the unholy depths of our sin. Love believes all things and hopes all things, but whenever disappointed, it also bears all things and endures all things.
Scripture Focus
1 Peter 1:3-9; Galatians 5:5-6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 5:8
Insight
Against yesterday’s despair and tomorrow’s anxiety, faith believes and hope waits so that love can rule today.
Bible In A Year
- Deuteronomy 19-20
- Psalm 89
- Acts 13
