If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. . . . these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:3,13)

    I personally have yet to have faith enough to give all I possess to the poor. But I have faith. Indeed, we all have “some” faith of “some sort.” We all believe “something.” The only question is whether or not our faith is in Him who is greatest or something / someone far less. I need faith in someone who lasts.

    I want to believe that my hope is strong enough that I could face any sort of death — even a martyr’s death at the burning stake. But this is my “hope,” not reality — obviously, and thankfully, it hasn’t been tested to this degree as of yet. I consider my hope indispensable to my life for without Jesus in my life, my life would be empty, meaningless and without ultimate direction. I need hope.

    Faith. Hope. Two incredibly important matters! Life cannot really “be” without them. Without faith, people remain stunted in spirit and shrivel inside. And as Victor Frankl learned while in the Nazi concentration camps in World War 2 (and wrote of in his book entitled Man’s Search for Meaning), without hope, people die. Literally.

    Yes, indeed — faith and hope are “the stuff of life!” Unlike almost everything else, they are not supplementary matters for life. They are critical. Foundational. Central.

    But not even faith or hope can compare to love. ". . . these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Love is greatest for God is love.

    Love is greatest for God is love. God gives faith, but he does not have faith. In whom would God trust? In what? If God had faith, He would not be “God!” God extends hope, but He does not have hope. God has no “needs,” where is there room for “hope” in His being? If God had hope, He would not be “God.”

    But “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) And as eternal God is, love will be. When faith becomes sight someday and when hope becomes reality, God’s heart, love, will go on. So love is my greatest need — now and forever.

    In light of all this, a question remains — “Are you love?” Allow me to phrase that question several different ways and then the day is yours to consider the greatness of love — and our common responsibility to live it

• Today, will you deliberately choose what is greatest in life, or will you settle for something less?

• Today, will you choose to fill your words and ways with eternal things, or will you trade them for man-made stuff that doesn’t last?

• Will you consider carefully every hour of this day, how to answer the question, “How can I best care for and love this person in front of me?,” no matter who that person might be?