1 Corinthians 13:13 - Faith, Hope, and Love

"Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love." (NLT)

This verse (and this entire chapter) is Paul showing us what truly matters, what has eternal value. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his teachings, hope in the gift that has been promised to those that believe in his name, and love, the kind of love that sent Jesus as a willing sacrifice for our sins. In this post I am going to look at each of these three things and explain what they mean and why they are of eternal value.

Faith is often misinterpreted in today's culture. People think faith is believing in something that you have no proof of however, the Bible shows us that faith is not blind, it doesn't believe without question, in fact, we are told to know the evidence of our beliefs in order to answer those who ask us for it (1 Peter 3:15). Many people use the word 'trust' to explain faith, and I have to agree. We have faith in Christ, we trust in Christ. With this definition, it is easy to understand how this has eternal significance. If we didn't have faith for all eternity, if we didn't trust God for all eternity, then we would be miserable, we would be without hope, for how can you have hope without trusting in the one who gives hope.

So, we need faith to have hope, but why do we need hope, what do we have to hope for in a perfect world that we will experience in eternity? This is difficult to answer because nobody truly knows what eternity will be like. However, I believe it is quite simple. We, as humans, are always looking for a better thing. A better experience, a better home, a better relationship. Our lives revolve around hope for tomorrow. If we didn't have this hope in eternity then we would quickly get bored and an eternity of life would be painful and torturous. So without hope, eternity would be torturous, but fortunately, we are able to spend it with the infinite God, so there is always something better that we can receive, always something new we can learn.

So faith and hope are both clearly very important, but love is greater still. Having a read of the whole chapter (1 Corinthians 13) provides a clear picture that love is the most important part of everything we do. However, the reason for this is given throughout the whole Bible. One of the descriptions of God is that "God is love" (1 John 4:8). This doesn't say that God has love, it says that he is love. Therefore, if God is love, then what this verse is saying is that God remains greater than everything else for all eternity.

Faith, Hope, and Love. These are the only three things that will last forever. I hope that I have given you a greater understanding of what each of these things are and why they are of eternal importance.

Prayer

Father, you chose to reveal to us the things which are eternal significance. Lord we ask that you help us to prioritise these things over all else, for what is the point of doing something if it has no significance for most of our life. Help us Lord so that we can draw closer to you and to your way of living. Amen.