Day 25 - Faith, Hope, Love

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Faith, Hope, Love

We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints –
the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven.
Colossians 1:4,5

What do you want for Christmas? How about three virtues – faith, hope, and love! Wherever the Gospel is proclaimed, wherever Christians seek to live out that Gospel, these three virtues should always be found. In I Corinthians 13, Paul tells us that love is the greatest of the three, but in truth they are all important, all interdependent.

Writing to the Colossian Christians, Paul gives thanks for their “faith in Christ Jesus.” He is grateful that they have put their trust in Christ. Trust opens the door of salvation. When we have admitted our need, repented of our sin, and accepted Christ as Savior and Lord, then it is faith that saves us. But we are to take no credit for our faith. All we do is to open our empty hands to receive what God longs to give.

And then there is love. For the Christian, love always has the aroma of sacrifice. I love most perfectly when I give myself to another, without thought for self, or for reward. Love cannot be self-serving. Love gives the best that it has for the sake of another. Who could be a better example of this self-giving love than Jesus? He gave Himself, going as far as the cross for us. He died, an act of love for the unlovely, in order to reconcile us to the Father. As John reminds us (I John 3:11), this is how Christians should love.

Hope, which is laid up for us in heaven, completes the trinity of Christian virtues. According to Paul, hope is not the reward for our faith and love, it is their source. Our settled certainty in the character, purposes, and promises of God enables us to have faith in Christ, and to share with one another the precious gift of love.

Prayer for the Day
Holy God,
this we believe: that when all else fails
these three shall remain – faith, hope, and love.
May our hope be grounded in Your Word;
may our faith be centered on Your Son;
and may our love reach out to all,
this holy night, and always.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.