The greatest is love

(1 Cor 13:13 NKJV) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I always wondered why the greatest is love. Some of my friends would say that faith in God, and Hope for eternity is important but not as important as loving others. Hence, their motto is loving others as yourself.

But as I become older, I realise the meaning of this verse. We abide in faith, hope and love, but our faith in God, in Christ, do fall in the time of great stress and temptation. It may not be something that we have done, it may be how others have stumbled us, even pastors and the church. We may loose hope in our situation, in terms of financials, relationships, health and family, resulting in loosing hope that God will provide a break through. There come a point of grace, when asked we would say that we have some but not much of faith, and hope that Christ will pull through for us.

The early Christians had the same problem. Booted our of Jerusalem in AD70 where they were not only displaced but had many of their family killed, they were now living in despair in Asia Minor, where in fact most of the bible was actually written and documented as they reflected upon God. The last book, the Gospel of John happened well after the fall of Jerusalem, when another crisis loom, the persecution of Christians in Rome after they lost the official status as a religion that was allowed in the Roman empire under the notion of a sect of Judaism.

That is when Love comes in. It is not just our love for others, but abiding in the Love of God for us. Yes, in response we are to love others, but it is out of God's love for us. Therefore, when our faith and hope in Christ seemingly fail under extreme stress and pressure, all that we have to fall back upon is God's grace and mercy in His unmerited Love for us.

I love the song "First Love" , the lyrics which read -

Rekindle your first love in my heart
I never inteded to depart
From the trusting child I was
Simply knowing that because
You are my Father, I am Your child
I am acceptable

You've never changed
and You've never will
I open my heart to embrace Your will
I love You I trust You my dear Father
rekindle Your first love in me.

Love is the greatest, because it is the love of God, through His Son Jesus Christ,
not our love for Him. Through His love, our own love will be rekindled, giving us
the measure of faith in the risen Lord and hope that He will pull through for us when there is little oil left in our lamp of life. Even when our eyes grow dimm with no salvation in sight in this part of life, we remain abiding in God's love, looking foward with faith and Hope for eternal life to come when there will be no more sorrows, nor suffering.

God's grace and mercy be with You always.