So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:13
So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:13
Today we finish what has been a lengthy reflection on I Corinthians 13, sometimes referred to as St. Paul’s treatise on love. Entire books have been written on the subject of love, but no description of love is more succinct or complete than what St. Paul wrote in just thirteen short verses.
Saint Paul concludes this chapter by referencing the words “faith,” “hope,” and “love,” even those faith and hope are only mentioned once in the chapter. Faith is what we believe about God, and what we believe we can do through God, or what God can do for us. In this chapter, faith is used in reference to what we believe we can do through God, if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (I Corinthians 13:2) Even if we have a faith in God that would allow us to move mountains, without love, that faith counts for nothing. Hope is used in verse seven, where we read (love) hopes all things. Love is the driving force behind hope. Without love, there is no sense of hope.
Faith is what we believe about God, salvation, the purpose of our life, and our destiny to inherit eternal life. Faith says “I believe in that.” Hope comes in when faith is tested. Hope says “I cling to faith even when it is hard.”
Remember the three questions we examined earlier as litmus tests of faith:
Do you believe in God?
Do you believe in the goodness of God?
Do you believe that God is good to you?
Faith answers the first question, and for me, the answer to the first question never wavers. Life’s circumstances sometimes make us question the second two questions. Look at the tragedies of the world, people going about their business in Nepal and Tibet recently who were suddenly swept away by a flood that came with no warning. Yes, this was a disaster of a fallen nature, just like other disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes, the result of our broken world. But it does make us question where is God in the midst of things like that? Why won’t He stop them, or take the flood a different way? Hope in God, and hope that indeed there is some kind of grand plan unknown to us, keeps our faith going when we hear of tragedies.
There is an extra measure of hope needed for the third question, when tragedy or strife hits close to home, when it hits our families, or when it hits us. The person suffering from cancer or another serious illness may struggle with this question. So might their family. Hope allows us to keep faith, even when the setback or tragedy hits close to us, or hits us directly.
Love, however, is how faith and hope are lived out. The greatest commandments are to love God and to serve our neighbor. To love God requires a belief, an understanding, and a faith in God. We can believe and understand but still not love. People who go to church infrequently or who pray rarely may still believe in God, and may even have an understanding of God, but is there love for God? Love requires sacrifice, love also requires action. One can believe and understand and remain passive in behavior. There has never been a week in my life where I have not believed in God, but there have been weeks where I did not pray very much or read the Bible at all.
To serve our neighbor also requires action. We can believe that charity is important, but are we really charitable? Do we give sacrificially? Do we look for opportunities to give? Is giving something we do naturally or only when prompted?
Love is how our faith will be judged by God. We will not be asked so much what did we believe but what did we do with what we believed? How did what we belief manifest itself in love. We can believe all we want, and hope all we want, but if faith and hope are not put into action with love, then they don’t count for much. Faith and hope are good and perhaps even necessary motivators for love. This is why St. Paul groups all three together, saying all three abide (meaning they are virtually inseparable). However, the greatest of the three is love, because love is faith and hope in action, and we will be judged by God for how we demonstrated love for Him and for one another.
Lord, thank You for the gifts of faith, hope and love. These are not things, but gifts, intangibles, they are thoughts and choices. Help me to cultivate these gifts. Guide me to deepen my faith, to understand Your Word. Guide me to choose hope when my faith is challenged. May I manifest faith and hope by choosing to love You and to serve others. Amen.
Faith is what we believe. Hope is what enables us to cling to belief when life gets challenging. Love is how we manifest faith and hope, and will be the basis for how God judges each of our lives.
