Originally posted: SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2008
V8-10: Love never ends, unlike everything else which is temporal (life/death). You could also interpret love never failing as never giving up on anyone. Most things come to a natural conclusion, after completing the job that it set out to do (such as: a prophecy - once it has been fulfilled it doesn't come around again), but love goes on forever, and is eternal.
V11: A child is immature and doesn't have much life experience. They tend to be rather naive in their outlook. However, when you become an adult a certain amount of wisdom and life experience gives you a better understanding and you tend to be more in control of your actions and thoughts. As an adult, we "know better" and live life accordingly. So as we mature in our faith and understand Gods love, we no longer live a life that is contrary to the meaning of love.
V12: Whilst living a human existence, prior to being united in Heaven with God, we can partly understand Gods nature and love for us, but when we do pass on into eternity we will have complete understanding (this can refer to all things relating to God. Whilst still living on planet earth we can only gain a meager understanding of God - but will fully comprehend Him once in Heaven).
V13: So three things are important to our Christian life; Faith, Hope and Love, and the greatest of these three things is Love. So "Love" IS the most important aspect of our Christian life, it will allow us to live life to the full and be fruitful in everything that we do. This will be regardless of whether the outcome is as expected, as when we live out of the right motivation (love), His Will will be done (on earth as it is in Heaven), as we won't be focusing on our own motivations and concerns.
So with Love as the foundation of our Christian life, Faith and Hope then appear to be secondary. The word says that faith gives substance to hope (Heb 11:1-3), so what does this mean? In simple terms; faith provides us tangible evidence that what we are hoping for will be achieved. Please don't think, though, that faith allows you to get whatever you want, as living by faith means living according to Gods word (Matt 6:32-34; {paraphrased} seeking Him first and His righteousness and then all things being added).
When we seek God first our motivations and desires align with God's will for our lives (they become our hopes and dreams).
When we seek God first our motivations and desires align with God's will for our lives (they become our hopes and dreams).
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