Lord, You said These Three Last Forever

Faith: 
        which made me your own daughter, 
        brings me peace, forgiveness, strength, 
        moves the mountains when I trust you,
        coaches me to run the length . . .
Hope:
	which is my light in darkness
	gives me reasons to endure,
	promises you’ll heal what’s broken,
	makes me long for all that’s pure . . .
Love:
	which takes the focus off me,
        reaches out to hug, forgive,
        melts my heart to bow and worship,
        marks the way to truly live!

Are you facing some challenge these days that is a really getting to you? Maybe it’s a dilemma about how to move forward in a relationship in a way that conforms to God’s expectations. Maybe it’s a sudden loss that leaves you spinning. Maybe this world just seems all too dark. We all go through such things.

So it makes sense that the apostle Paul kept referring in his letters to ways to be both protected and ready to fight the battles that come. What intrigues me is the different ways he emphasized three qualities that are essential: faith, hope and love.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul explains how no action or ministry that is done without love has any value. Even our confidence in God’s promises for the future will someday find that hope’s work is finished, the day when they are all accomplished. Our current knowledge and hope are important but temporary. And there is that famous last line:

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13 NIV)

Lately it is Paul’s  teaching on these same qualities in another one of his letters that has captured my attention: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. He begins the section by urging them to be prepared for the return of the Lord. The world is dark and we who are children of light do not belong in this darkness (verse 5). But we are currently stuck here, so we have be alert and ready for battle. If we snooze or get drunk to find comfort, we have no protection and accomplish nothing.

⁶ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. ⁹ For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰ He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.  (1 Thess. 5:6-11)

Here the breastplate, the part that covers our vital organs (lungs, heart, kidneys etc.) is made of two qualities: faith and love. They work together.

Faith keeps our eyes on our Savior, our God, and gives us steadiness when the elements of darkness attack us. In union with our Guide, we know what to do, when to stand firm and when to run with purpose. That is light in the darkness.

Love for the Lord also keeps us firmly attached to him, knowing him more and more, living life together with him (verse 10). It is the energy that empowers us to do the last command in these verses, always doing what is good toward others:

¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. ¹² Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. ¹³ Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ¹⁵ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.  (1 Thess. 5:11-15 NIV)

Wow! If we would do all that is listed here, we would have amazing harmony in the Family of God, and the love of Jesus would be visible to those not yet in the Family. There would be healing and encouragement. Disagreements over politics or music, for example, would not divide us so easily. Peace and encouragement would lift others up.

And that last line in verse 15, if actually applied, would erase assumptions, impulsive accusations and neglect of needs: “do what is good for each other and for everyone else.” We are to focus on right actions that do good, whether for those in our Christian community or for those outside.

There is yet one other necessary quality in focus: hope. That is our confidence that God’s promises will be accomplished, that he actually is the Sovereign who does everything in his timing and his way to bring about a new world of complete peace and goodness. And not only is that hope for a future that may be distant, but hope that matters right now: assurance that he  has saved us, is indeed in us and is guiding us through this darkness. How is it a helmet? It protects our minds, all our thought processes. When we go through times of suffering, we know we are not alone, and that with his presence and empowerment we can endure whatever it is.

These three, faith and hope and love, are a trio that works together in us. This New Jerusalem Bible translation states it clearly in this verse:

 ⁷ [Love] is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. (1 Cor. 13:7 NJB)

Love in action changes our relationships, keeps faith our solid foundation, and empowers us to endure due to our assurance, our “hope,” that God is in control and his love will pull us through.

I saw this happen when I was going through a tough phase with a coworker. It was tempting to give up, to avoid seeing him so that I could avoid his judgments, to wonder how this brother in Christ could treat others with such disrespect. The Lord convicted me that I was giving up on love, giving up on doing that tough job of warning someone in such a way that they feel loved, giving up on believing that his Spirit could intervene if I just followed those promptings I wanted to ignore. I finally set up a one-on-one encounter, my own heart trembling, and broached the subject with some gentle questions that had been written on my heart through months of prayer. To my delight, there was difficult but revealing sharing, significant steps toward mutual acceptance and appreciation, forgiveness and encouragement. And it was followed by celebration instigated by my coworker!

Looking back, it was truly faith and love that were covering my heart as I nervously approached that discussion. I am naturally extremely sensitive, but that day my sensitivity turned from me to him, to understand where he was coming from. That was the Spirit at work. And it was the confident assurance that the Lord could bring reconciliation—hope founded on his promises and his character of love—that empowered me to do what I did not want to do, left on my own.

I am still learning how to keep this breastplate and this helmet in place every day. What is key for us all here is this: when we take our focus off self, knowing Jesus better and better, he shows us how to be light in the darkness and alert every moment to what he wants to accomplish through his gifts of faith, love and hope.