"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love."
You know these words written by Paul so long ago. Even if you've never read 1Corinthians 13, you've been to a wedding. And I think it is a legal obligation that 1Corinthians 13 is read at every wedding.
Anyway...it's odd (at least curious) to me how backwards I've practiced this sacred triumvirate. Faith has often come first. Have faith. Just believe. Believe in Jesus. Believe in God. Believe the Bible. Justification by faith. Salvation by faith. Faith alone. Believe the gospel and you'll be saved.
Then, for me, hope has played a big part. Looking forward to the time when God will sort everything out (like things aren't sorted properly now). Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Thy kingdom come. I hope that they will accept Jesus.
Love has often taken the back seat to both of these. I'll love you if you have faith (the "right" faith at that). If you share my hope, then I'll love. Love just gets in the way of getting people to have faith in the right hope.
At least that's been my experience for a large portion of my life. Yours might be different. It's not to say that I didn't consider my faith and hope motivated by love. I did. But looking back, I can see that love never really entered the picture. Maybe a little, but not much. The greatest of these three was always faith...with a capital F.
That's what I preached from pulpits every week for nearly 2 decades. "Come forward and confess your faith." Never once did I invite anyone to come forward to show their love.
Now, after a long time and a lot of personal anguish, I can see how Love trumps faith and hope. It's not that faith and hope are insignificant. It's like ice cream. Strawberry and vanilla are great, but nothing beats chocolate!
But even now, I can take it one more step. As great as Love is when we love, how much greater is God's Love! The God who is Love. The God who is Love triumphs over our faithlessness, faithfulness, hopelessness, hopefulness, lovelessness, and love; because the greatest is Love.
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3 comments:
Kevin, I totally agree… Love rules! To me, Hope has always been a close second and I am learning a lot about Faith now. St Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and his words and descriptions on having Love, and what that means, are beautiful, inspiring and irrevocable (a wonderful word you used in a previous post) in my mind and hopefully my heart.
It is funny, or curious as you said, how the Holy Spirit works in my particular circumstances. This past year and very recently, I have been very involved with the presence of…. the concept of “Sophia” – Greek for “Wisdom.” Eastern Orthodox Christians name Wisdom (aka Sophia) the Holy Spirit. According to scripture (Proverbs 8:23-32, for one), she was with God from before the beginning - his master craftswoman, dancing and playing on the surface of the earth. Long story, I may blog about sometime.
Anyway…There is a Christian “myth,” for lack of a better word, that Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and perhaps Anglican Christians and other also, subscribe to about an 8th Century widow named Sophia who had three daughters, Faith, Hope, and Love (Greek - Pistis, Elpis, and Agape; Latin – Fides, Spes and Caritas).
Any way these girls were martyred for their love of Jesus and focus on their eternal soul and not their earthly humanness. Each is considered a Saint in her own right, as well as their mother - Sophia.
Thank you for this thought provoking blog.
Peace and Love
Keren
Kevin and Keren,
Yes! Love trumps faith and hope.
Twenty years ago I hung out with the folks who call themselves the Word of Faith churches. I left because I came to believe they did not know how to have faith.
We know God´s love and give God´s love first. Then faith and hope grow.
Kevin, it was very poignant to read that "not once did I invite someone to come forward to show their love". I never knew that anyone could be drawn to embrace a particular faith without love being the driving force. Later on I realized that was rather naive, but later on still I decided that my naivete was a good place to be. Yes, Love Triumphs. I cannot conceive of the universe any other way.
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