J recently got a tattoo of these three words in Italian, on his inner bicep - a tribute to his heritage, I guess, but more importantly a commitment to the words.. faith, hope and love. Three very strong words, pulled from Corinthians, with meaning so deep and passionate. Webster defines them:
faith - the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.
hope - to believe, desire, or trust
love - a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person
In Corinthians, Jesus is telling us that the greatest of these is love, a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. The others are evident and not to be taken lightly, but love is the most important because it is an action, something we do outwardly for another. We have faith and hope, but we need to give love.
How can we do this? Well, as you may have read in an earlier post, I am on a journey to please God. I want to love my brothers and sisters as Jesus did - all of them. He didn't command us only to love those that treat us well, dress nicely and are in our close-knit circle of friends. Our love is great enough for those close to us, and those we may not want to get close to. We need to share our love with all our neighbors alike, the poorly dressed woman at the market, or the driver in the car in front of us going 60 on the freeway, the neighbor and their barking dog!
In reflecting on the words, faith, hope and love I am inspired to have faith in others, to hope for the best and to love all of God's children, unconditionally.
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