As
Paul the apostle continued to share with the church members in
Corinth about “love” he declared, “now
we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face”.
He added, “now I know in part; but
then shall I know even as also I am known”,
and in chapter thirteen and verse twelve
of First Corinthians, Paul shared with the Corinthian church about
“faith, hope and charity”
and how, “the
greatest of these is charity”,
where we read:
And
now abides faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of
these is
charity.
The
verse begins, “And
now abides faith, hope, charity, these three;”.
Paul began
with the words, “and now”
which means “at this very moment and time” “abides”
or “remains and continues” “faith”
which refers to “belief with the predominate idea of trust or
confidence whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the
same”, “hope”
or “expectation of good”, “charity”
which is the Greek word “agapē”
and
refers to “affection, good will, love, benevolence and
unconditional brotherly love”, “these
three”
which means “the same three in number”. Paul stated that “faith,
hope and charity”
all continued at the present time.
The
verse goes on to say, “but
the greatest of these is
charity.” Paul
continued with the word, “but”
which is a
disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written
takes precedence over what was just stated
“the greatest”
or “the larger, elder and stronger” “of
these” which
means “of the same” “is charity”
or “is
affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love”. Though
the other characteristics are valuable, the “strongest and most
important” is “love”.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we see how “love” is the
pre-eminent trait within the use of the “spiritual
gifts”. “God is
love” (1 John 4:8), and those
who have received Jesus Christ as their personal “Savior and Lord”
have accepted God's greatest offerings of not only “faith
and hope”, but also “love”.
God loves people, and He demonstrated it by allowing His Son Jesus to
die on the cross for their sins and resurrecting Him the third day
after He died. The “greatest”
of “these three”
qualities, “faith, hope and charity”
is “charity” or “God's unconditional love”,
and those who are wise shall not only receive it, but enjoy God's
“love” for all of eternity.
Next
time we begin a new chapter and see Paul tell the church members,
“follow
after charity, and desire spiritual gifts,
but rather that ye may prophesy”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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