The Greatest!

I Corinthians 13 is the well-known “love chapter” in the Bible. Those thirteen verses present a guide for living in a very unloving world. Paul ends the chapter using three key words: Faith, Hope and Love.

FAITH. Throughout Scripture we are invited to see the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. HE is in control. Nothing escapes His eye. He knows you and me intimately (Psalm 139). He is the Creator, Sustainer and Ruler over all matters in our lives. Jesus’ words to His disciples just before His ascension were “ALL authority in heaven and on earth was given to me.” (Matthew 28:18) Trusting in His Sovereignty is very comforting and freeing.

Faith that He is Sovereign leads to HOPE. The hope is that He has a plan constantly at work in your behalf through whatever affliction He has allowed or directed to come into your life, and that plan is not meant for disaster but is intended “to give you a future and a hope!” Only the Sovereign God could bring something good out of the worst thing that could happen in your life!

FAITH believes that God is in control. If you can embrace that truth, it can relieve a lot of stress and heartache. HOPE provides encouragement when you see that He has a plan, even tho’ YOU might not be able to see it clearly. But, the third word is the clincher! LOVE. God’s love – His unconditional, incomprehensible, unchanging love undergirds all He does and all we experience. And, gratefully, NOTHING we experience can separate us from His love. (Romans 8:38-39) That’s why, in the Love Chapter Paul says, of the three words, “love is the greatest.”

May FAITH, HOPE and GOD’S LOVE provide you with all the confidence and courage you need to be able to navigate your grief journey.