I trust that all is well with you. One of the best-loved and yet challenging chapters of the Bible is Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13, NIV)

Did you notice the final verse? “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV)

Love, of course, is defined by the verses you just read. The book of Hebrews says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV)

Faith is a powerful mixture of trust and confidence. We know even though we don’t see it or can prove it. Hope is the glue that binds faith and love together. Faith and hope without love are nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Hope and love without faith is powerless. Faith and love without hope is rudderless and without purpose. Bring all three together and something wonderful happens.

There is a synergistic multiplication when faith, hope, and love are combined. Synergistic in that the reality of the whole is greater, more powerful, than the sum of the parts. Peace and joy are discovered.

Purpose and direction are uncovered in sometimes surprising ways. While the struggle may continue, we find rest. It is difficult for me to express this truth in practical terms. But know this dear friend. If you seem directionless, powerless, or ineffective, ask yourself which of faith, hope, and love is missing or weak in your walk with Jesus. Without each of them, we become less than what God has made us to be. Which of faith, hope, and love is your greatest strength?  Which is your greatest weakness?

Good Day