Faith, hope, love. According to Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13, when all other things are stripped from our lives, these remain. Over the years, I have read these three words and acknowledged them, but they have always been abstractions. I really did not know what to do with them.
Paul places them in the middle of a discourse on the proper place of spiritual gifts in the life of the believer and the church. But I must now ask the question, is this all that Paul is intends when he brings these three concepts into the discussion? As I look at the larger framework of 1 Corinthians, I am forced to concede that they are part of a larger point that Paul is trying to make throughout his letter to the Corinthian believers. Far too often, and I am just a guilty as anyone else, we tend to focus on small sections of Scripture without considering their larger context. While there could be many overall underlying themes identified for 1 Corinthians, one of the most obvious is relationships. Relationship among believers in the Body of Christ. Relationship between the Body of Christ and the world. Relationship between both individual believers, as well as the larger church body, and God.
It was recent the book, The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God (TSR), by John Eldridge, that forced me to look at this passage in a new way. Eldridge’s primary focus in TSR is renewing a deep, vibrant relationship between God and ourselves. As a part of that discussion, Eldridge focuses on two of Paul’s concepts as be essential to a healthy relationship with God – faith and hope.
According to Eldridge, faith is the foundation of past relationship. Faith is based on what has gone on in the past. Past events that we can look back on a basis for future trust. Specifically, based on our previous interactions and experience, can I trust this person to continue in the future as they have in the past. If the person in question has proved trustworthy over the years, we have faith that they will continue in integrity. Again according to Eldridge, hope is the future aspect of the relationship. Do we have hope that there are yet significant aspects of life that can be shared together? Notice that I did not say good things. These aspects of life may be good or they may be bad. The outcome is not the issue. The issue is whether or not those in relationship chose to journey together and find benefit in sharing them together. Both faith and hope are essential in any relationship.
However, the final concept of the trio, love, is the unifying element. Love is the active present. It is life in the now that gives meaning and basis to the past and the future. Love is what keeps relationships from dying of nostalgia or flitting away in good intentions. It is the energy in the relationship pushing us to seek the best for the other. It is the force that drives us to provide comfort, encouragement, accountability, and the occasional kick in the pants. Love is the life blood of relationship. And it is three together – faith, hope, and love – that form the essential foundation of any relationship, trust. Faith allows us to see that someone has been trustworthy in the past. Hope allows us to see someone as trustworthy in the future. Love is the force that pushes it along day to day to deeper and deeper commitment.
How are your relationships - with family, with friends, with God? Are they healthy? Are they as rich and rewarding as you had hoped. If not, they may be missing one of the key components. If they are, the place to begin healing those relationships is by focusing on love in the now. We can not change the past and the future is unwritten, but acts of love in the present create both. We can start at anytime, why not today?
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