Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Right off the bat, we can acknowledge some big words and big ideas in this Scripture. Let's pull them apart one by one.
Forever
The first is forever. We say that flippantly here and there, but we have to remember that forever means without beginning and without end. When Paul is writing this Scripture to the Corinthian church, he's saying there are three things that have no beginning and will not end.
Faith
The first thing is faith. The Bible actually describes faith as an assurance of things hoped for, not only that, evidence of things that you don't see. There's a belief that goes so deep into your heart that you don't have to see it to know it's there. A good example of that would be the wind. You feel it. You might even wish it were a little bit warmer some days, but you don't see it. You know the effects of it, but you don't see its shape. It doesn't really have one. It takes faith to believe that there's wind. You feel it, but you don't see it.
Hope
The second is hope. What is hope? The Bible actually describes hope as an anchor for the soul. When you believe in Jesus, there's something that keeps you steady. Everybody else in the world is looking for something to hold onto, and they are hoping that something happens. But our hope is different. When we're in Jesus, our hope is an assurance. It's saying, I have something to look forward to, not I hope that happens. We have a belief, which is faith. We have a hope, which is an anchor. Now we have love.
Love
Love is such a big idea, and it would take forever to begin explaining it. A very simply put phrase is this, and it actually comes out of Scripture as well. When you're looking for a definition of what love is, we look to God first. He is love. The Scripture that we just read comes out of an entire chapter, known in Christian circles as the love chapter. It describes all of the characteristics of what love is and what it isn't, so that we have a better idea of how to process it. I encourage you and even challenge you today, when you've got some free time, to sit down and read 1 Corinthians 13 as a whole so that you know how our Verse of the Day fits into context.
As we think about this, Paul is saying love is greater than faith and hope. We see the significance of all three. We just talked about them. The Scriptures say so much about all three of these things, and yet love is the one thing that is greater.
Love in Action
When you think about God and His character, you could ask, how am I supposed to see this love in action? A Scripture that I love—it's one I learned when I was a little guy—is John chapter 3, verse 16. You might have heard it. It says this:
"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever would believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
The love that has existed without beginning or end came forward as a demonstration to creation through Jesus Christ. And when we think of how we're supposed to look like God in our everyday lives, it's a hard feat. It's difficult. But we can start with this: how am I supposed to love the world around me? Let's start by giving something that has always been and will always be. It comes straight from Him through you.
When we think about all of these things that will last forever—faith, hope, and love—let's ask Him to strengthen our faith, solidify our hope for a future with Him, and then ask Him through the Holy Spirit to empower us to love one another from today until eternity.
