Faith, Hope, Love

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13)

Meditation

Before I was saved, I really wasn’t a very good person. The only faith I had was, if someone had the chance to mess with me, they probably would. In my world, that was a reality I didn’t think I could escape. More than once in my younger days, I was victimized by people I thought I could trust. I had absolutely no faith in the “goodness of humanity” at all. The only hope I had was I hoped I could win the lottery, so I played that every chance I got. Long story short, I’m not a millionaire. The only love I felt was for my own family. If I’m honest, I probably loved myself even more than my family. I certainly didn’t love anyone else outside my family. I had plenty of friends, but there wasn’t anyone I would risk very much for.
Faith and hope came to me easily after I gave my heart to the Lord. Jesus saved me, so how could I not have faith in him? I knew he was real, and I wanted to follow him. When I learned more about the blessed hope, I was filled with this overwhelming expectation of what was to come in heaven. Of course, I loved the Lord, but I didn’t realize I was missing anything else. Some amount of time after I was saved, I’m not sure how long it took, I realized I loved everybody! Not just the Lord, not just my family or me, not just the respectable people at church, but everybody. No one was more surprised than me. I’m sure it was a gift of the Holy Spirit to have such love for the same people I had only disdain for before. I undoubtedly didn’t do it on my own. 
It doesn’t matter if I go to church every time the doors are opened. It doesn’t matter what good deeds I do in Christ’s name. It doesn’t matter how much money I give to the poor and needy. I can have all the faith in the world, more than anyone else. I can have the greatest of hope in the resurrection, but I might as well stay home, save my energy and save my money if I’m not doing those good deeds out of love. That means love for God, love for those around me and those far away, especially those who are not so easy to love. Jesus exhibited the greatest example of love for us when he came for the sole purpose of showing us the way back to the Father. His love for us knows no bounds, his mercy is never ending, and his grace is extended to all. He is extending it to you, right now.




Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, if we take the time to think about all you have done, from the first moments of creation to the present, we can only be astounded. You have given us the free will to choose to follow Jesus or to remain in rebellion. When we choose Jesus, we are set apart by you and become a new creation. Besides giving us Jesus, you have given us these three gifts; faith, hope, and love. We know our faith can only remain strong when we stay close to your will, Lord, so never let us lose our way. We are so grateful for the hope you have instilled in our hearts. Help us to always be watching for that day when you return. Most of all, Lord, thank you for a love that’s filled our hearts. A love that is beyond anything we can do on our own. A love beyond all description and understanding. We love you, Father, and we want to be in your service for all eternity. That means we have to love our neighbor like ourselves. Help us to love our neighbors like Jesus does in every way. It’s in his name, we pray. Amen!

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