Tag Archives: faith hope and love

The greatest thing you can do today

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Do you have your to-do list made for the day? Is your calendar filled with appointments? If you’re like me, there’s probably more on the list than can possibly get done! You may be wondering how to make sure you get the most important things accomplished!

 

A life is made up of years and years are made up of days. Each day is made up of the moments where we live and breathe and try to discover and express our purpose in life – the one thing that is most important in everything we do. What is that one “most important” thing for you?

 

Maybe you have a voice that others listen to, leadership skills inspires others to follow. Maybe you seek to discover the great mysteries of life and to amass a great volume of knowledge. Maybe you’ve felt compelled to be generous in your gifts and service to benefit others.  We all seek purpose and meaning and want our lives to make a difference. But as good as all these things are, they are not the best. They may be beneficial, but if they lack love, they gain nothing. “Nothing?” you ask. “What about faith? Doesn’t faith matter?” Indeed it does. Faith is the hope that helps us endure. It is the light that shines into the depths of our darkest moments. Faith is the confidence that overcomes fears and speaks truth to doubts. Faith is the conqueror of negative thinking and worry. In fact:

 

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself…through love.

 

What is it about love that makes the difference? Consider Paul’s words:

“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. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

 

Love is the motivation that stirs us to action. It is the fuel that feeds our engine of activity. Emotions confuse us and fail us. Activity tires us. But love calls us to push on and persevere even when logic and emotions persuade us to give up. Love finds joy in the truth of life. It protects us from selfishness and self pity. It brings hope to our despair. True love, the love that God shows us, never gives up. 

 

Jesus summarized all the commandments by saying, love God and love others. Love is the greatest thing God did for you and me. Love is what characterizes God. Shouldn’t it be what summarizes our life too? Beyond wealth and even beyond health. Beyond hobbies and politics. Beyond accomplishment and special gifts. Love surpasses all these.

 

Everything else has an end and passes away but faith, hope, and love remain. I hope you’ll fill your day with these most important things, especially love. 

 

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

 

Faith Hope and Love

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Though it was decades ago, I remember it clearly. I was in a hospice room with an acquaintance while he was visiting his dying wife. WHY I was chosen to join him in this intimate setting, I don’t recall, but I clearly remember the very brief conversation, if you could even call it that. He took her hand and said to her, “I want you to know that I have always been faithful to you. I have never cheated on you.” Her eyes remained closed as if to open them required too much effort in her state of suffering. But the hands clasping each other communicated to me more than mere words could impart.

And yet the words seemed as necessary to him as they were surprising to me. And they seemed to come out quite of the blue. If they were a continuation of a previous conversation there was no evidence to it. Rather, it was like the situation I’d seen before where words of love had not been spoken for so long because of embarrassment or discomfort, until the forces of nature could simply not hold them back.

There is something about love and faith that needs to be affirmed both in actions and in spoken word. Oh, it seems we have no problem neglecting them in the routine busyness of life. But these words, and the actions which affirm them, are the relational glue that holds people together. They speak to our great hope that we were loved and that we loved well. And it seems like they are needed to be expressed never so much as in times of despair, when life is threatened or near its end. It is at these times especially that we look to the sum of life and ask what mattered most.

I experienced a number of such moments this past year with my journey through cancer. My mind flooded with so many things I let trip me up throughout the years and so many things I could have done better. But overshadowing all the shortcomings and certainly any claim to “success” were faith, hope and love. In the end, and especially now in the middle of life’s journey, these are what I want to remain. How about you?

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

More blessed now than before

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Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Psalm 103:1

Eleven months after being diagnosed with Leukemia, I find that I am more blessed, even still with a life-threatening disease than perhaps when I was healthier. “How can that be?” you ask.

Have you ever noticed that when the sun comes out on a cloudy day you can see more clearly than before? Have you caught yourself realizing the rare value of loving and being loved unconditionally? Even where bubbly joy may escape you, have you found instead a lasting and contented joy that circumstances can’t shake? If in the presence of adversity you dig deeper to find a heart that has been conditioned to give thanks in all situations, then you have found a treasure. There is always reason to give thanks for the one who trusts our merciful and faithful God. A thankful heart, an attitude of gratitude, is one of the keys to enduring and thriving in the midst of struggles! Along the difficult journey, sometimes surrounded by despair and worry, a thankful heart discovers unspeakable hope and a ‘fully persuaded’ faith that is a firm and secure anchor for your soul. In fact, it is not a new discovery but one which has sustained you all along your path. Only now, it lifts you to greater heights. Its light shines brighter to reveal that your path of trial does not go on forever. If you find these things, you have found immense treasure.

All good news and no bad? Are there no struggles and heartaches? Ones that sometimes wear you down? Oh for sure there are; and certainly more to come. But where there are those, there are blessings all the more. Especially the blessings of faith, hope, and love. These are blessings that are always available to us. In the face of adversity, we always make a choice; perhaps not a conscious one, but a choice none the less: we choose to surrender either to our circumstances and to the impotence of own attempts to overcome them, or to the real power God offers to be victors. Whether your struggles are large or small, whether you have carried them for a short time or much of your life, TODAY is the day you can choose to respond with faith, with hope, with love. Cultivate a thankful heart that learns to rise above the circumstances and rest in the presence of God’s love for you. Be more blessed now than before.