It Starts Small

Paul gets right to the heart of the matter in 1 Corinthians 13. CHapter 13 of first Corinthians is commonly called the chapter on love. After describing the word love in detail, he finishes the chapter by saying that these things will last forever: faith, hope, and love.

¹³ Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

What is faith, hope, and love?

Faith: Confidence or trust in a person or thing; belief that is not based on proof.

Hope: to want something to happen or be true.

Love: to have love or affection from another person or object.

After reading these, do they resonate with you? As followers of Jesus we can go even deeper and beyond what the definition of these words are. These are the human definitions. We can seek a deeper definition of them in God’s Word.

³ We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:3

We learn an incredible truth in this verse. Paul said this about the church in Thessalonica: Their work was produced by faith, their labor was motivated by love, and their endurance inspired by hope. It was their faith that motivated them to endure.

Faith, love, and hope are the catalyst to work, labor and endure. The things we can not see are what often produce things that we can see.

There are going to be season in our lives when there is a decline in these things because we do not feel them. Because we can not feel them, we often do not take action. If we want to walk in faith, we will need to dive into each word to understand what faith, hope, and love mean and how we exercise them in the world around us.

It is one thing to know what they are, but it is entirely different when you experience and express them. We have to take what we know and begin to live it out. AS we become better acquainted with faith, love, and hope, we become better versions of ourselves and the people God is calling us to be. We see a little slice of our world change as well.

Part 1: And these Remain
Part 2: Faith
Part 3: Hope
Part 4: Love