The Greatest of These
Sometimes it’s so hard to love others, especially our loved ones. We can become irritated, frustrated, or angry at them and we don’t want to show love to them. We may think they don’t deserve love from us. That may be true, but we didn’t deserve God’s love either. In spite of our failures, He extended His love anyway. Out of that love was born two beautiful things: faith and hope.
Love is the well-spring for faith and hope. Love gives life to our faith and hope. Think about it, if God wouldn’t have shown His love to us, we wouldn’t have any faith or hope. Our faith and hope lie in one thing: Jesus Christ. Without Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross we would have NO faith or hope in eternal life. What would we have to hope for? Nothing. God displayed His love for all to see when He sent His Son to die on the cross.
God is love. All that He is and ever will be is love. His love gives us hope to face the day and faith to carry on. Without His love how can we live in this scary, discouraging world? We need hope and faith in our lives. God is the only one who can give us that eternal hope. Love really is the greatest of the three because without it we wouldn’t have the others. What an awesome God we serve! He wants us to have hope and faith. We know that because He sent His only begotten Son to die for us. That is true love. Looking out for the well being of others even if it costs you.
We should remember to extend that same love to others. A love that offers hope and faith is what others need. Loving them will inspire them. It will inspire them to do what they are called to do. We can love others like God does. If we’ll abide in God’s love we’ll have plenty of His love to give. What a beautiful reality! God wants us to dwell in His faith, hope, and love. That’s the perfect place for us to remain, in God’s love.
I encourage you to know how much God loves you, then extend the love God gives you to others around you. Be an inspiration to others and point them to Jesus. It’s not always easy to do that for everyone in our lives, but we have been extended such great love from God. We’ll be obeying God if we give out His love to those around us. It’ll please Him and that’s our goal in life.
Lord, thank Your for being love. Thank You that You love me no matter what I’ve done. I can’t thank You enough for your love. Help me to be loving towards others. May I extend the same love I have been shown to my family, friends, and even enemies. Help me to abide in faith, hope, and love. May I never forget how You displayed Your love towards me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thank you Heather, for this beautiful and timely reminder.
So glad you were encouraged Libby!!
Amen, Heather. His love for us is amazing, and so should we love like He has loved us.