Faith, Hope and Love
>by Gramma Cherbear
"The three most important things to have are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
God's Word says that there are three very important things He looks for in us. Three things that will please Him about our walk on His path. Our walk with Jesus. Let's take a closer look at what He is saying:
"Faith" - He says we must have faith. This is different from being faithful as we learned in part of this lesson on the Fruits of God's Spirit. God wants us to have faith in Jesus, our Savior and Lord. God wants us to have faith in Him to do what He says He will do.
Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see."
We cannot see Jesus with our eyes. We don't know about the wonderful works He will do today or in all of our tomorrows. We don't always know what we need. We can have faith that God knows all about us and will give us what we need. We can have faith that He is with us at all times and He cares for us. He will show us all these things as we learn to know Him better and better!
Hebrews 11:6 "Without faith it isn't possible to please God. Those who come to God must believe that he exists. And they must believe that he rewards those who look to him."
"Looking to God," means that we trust Him and we seek to know all about Him. Studying His Word and hoping that He will answer our prayers.
"Hope" - You need to know that when God says the word "hope" in the Bible, He does not mean, when you say, "Gee, I hope I get that new toy," or "I hope it doesn't rain so I can play outside." Hoping in God is a stronger hope. It means you believe with all our heart! Your mind and your soul (feelings and emotions) will agree with you heart when you hope with God's strong hope.
Lamentations 3:25 "The LORD is good to those who put their hope in him. He is good to those who look to him."
Psalm 33:18 "But the LORD looks with favor on those who respect him. He watches over those who put their hope in his faithful love."
"Love" - God says that the most important of these three things is Love. His greatest command to us is that we love.
Love God first,
Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus Replied,'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all you mind. This is the first and most important commandment.' (Deu.6:5)
Love others next, and ourselves third.
Matthew 22:39 And the second is like it. 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' (Lev.19:18)
This is how we can have joy. God's love is not like loving our kitten or your favorite toy. It is a love that looks past the faults or misfortunes of others and sees people, even ourselves, with the loving eyes of God. We can, if you have His Spirit living inside of us.
Ask Jesus to live in your heart and be the center of your life. He wants to be first. Always put God first, others next, and you third!
2John 6 "The way we show our love is to obey God's commands. He commands you to lead a life of love..."
Jesus ,Others, You = JOY
When God gives a command, it is for your good. You need to do what is right because you LOVE God. Jesus is the answer to everything. He deserves first place in your life. He is an Awesome, Mighty God, who loves you!
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