Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. (1 Cor. 13:13, MSG)
When we trust steadily in the love, heart, truth, and faithfulness of God our hope can be unmovable and our faith unshakeable. These foundations of our faith empower us to love extravagantly and completely like Christ because we understand how God loves us. The truth of these statements doesn’t change the reality that it takes time to personally know God and Jesus and to trust them.
Faith is a Life-Long Journey
Two of my favorite movie series are The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbits. They start with an ordinary person who becomes transformed by their experiences while fulfilling an unexpected mission. In each movie, you walk with them through several chapters of their lives. At the end of the movie, you are inspired even though you know the end of their story is yet to come.
Sitting in a movie theater and watching a make-believe world play out in front of you activates a variety of feelings. However, watching another person go through their life is not the same as enduring personal challenges in yours. When we come into this world, we are not handed our script of life. Most of us make choices based on our own wisdom and power, while we hope for the best outcome.
There is no question that we will endure challenges, heartaches, joys, and triumphs throughout our lifetime. The question we must ask ourselves is, will we write the story of our life in our imperfect human condition or will we choose to grow a personal relationship with the perfect Creator and author of our life, God?
Three Foundations of Faith
Trust: If you needed brain surgery, would you go to a foot doctor? Whom will you choose to help you navigate through the challenges, schemes, and temptations of this world? Will you rely on yourself or other imperfect people? Will you develop a close personal relationship with Jesus and know that you can trust him even if it means losing your life on earth?
These are the questions you will need to find the answers to as you walk with Jesus. He will help you see his truth, heart, and grace. As he becomes your personal Lord and Savior, you will develop and walk in complete trust now and for eternity.
- Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5-6, NIV)
Hope: Without trusting in Christ’s unconditional love and saving grace, how can you have hope? In Hebrew, hope means binding together an expectation and hope in. The very essence of our hope comes from and resides in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. One of Christ’s closest friends and disciples tells us:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. (1 Peter 1:3-4, NLT)
Christ’s disciples have an eternal hope of living with him in a perfect heaven forever. This is the hope that we can share with others who are still searching for truth, hope, and love. The world needs Christ’s hope more than ever.
"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Cor. 4:17-18, NIV)
"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." (Heb. 10:23, NIV)
Love: The most perfect and greatest love is seen in God’s gift of his son’s sacrifice to die for us.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, NIV)
We cannot dispute this extravagant act of love for us. To honor Christ’s love and sacrifice for us, we can serve him as his disciples. We can live a life that mirrors his attitudes, words, and actions. Living and loving as Christ can only happen as we walk hand-in-hand with him and work with him to be transformed into his likeness. Let us follow the Scriptures concerning love.
My command is this: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. (John 15:12, NLT)
Do everything in love. 1 Cor. 16:14, NIV)
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8, NIV)
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8, NIV)
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13, NIV)
The very essence of our faith in God and Jesus Christ comes from how much we trust, hope, and love them. As we walk with them in a deep, close personal relationship, we will trust them and stand in the hope and promise of Christ’s return. We will walk in our faith in Christ and share his love and hope with the world just as he did, with complete respect, compassion, and God’s grace. Let us trust completely in Christ and be his light of hope and love!
