The Greatest

www.bible.com/72/1co.13.13.hcsb

Of faith, hope and love, the greatest is love. Why is that? Simply because love outlasts the others. Faith is temporal, for it will only be necessary until we see the face of Christ. Then we will know and be fully known. (Do not take this lightly, as faith is the basis for our salvation, and without faith it is impossible to please Him. While temporal, it is still extremely important). Hope too is temporal, in that when we see Him, our hope will be realized. (Again, this is not to say that hope is not needed. We depend on our blessed hope to endure this present darkness and press on to the light. We need our hope like oxygen for perseverance, the mettle or our maturity. Without hope we no direction or focus. We need hope, just as much as faith) But the greatest by far of the three is love. Love is eternal. Love is everlasting. Unconditional, forgiving love is our mainstay, which we will experience both now and forever.

How great this love is when the Father sends His own Son, proof of His love, to suffer and die, to take upon Himself the infinite wrath of God on our behalf. One day we will see his face, though I will ashamed, knowing that this eternal loving God had to suffer and die for my sins. I will week as I’ve never wept before for shame, that such a one, a perfect One, took my sins and curses upon Himself. I am a wretch before Him. And such love will raise his nail-scarred hand and wipe away my tears. What love is this, that would love me so completely? Such I have never experienced on this earth. Such is too wonderful, too hoped for, too fantastic for my imagination. Could I imagine such love? That without regret He would deem me worthy of such a sacrifice as His cross? Am I so valuable to Him as to deserve that love? I am worthless. But He has imparted to me by His grace such worth that I cannot take it all in. So I weep in gratitude. Through tear-filled eyes I behold my Savior and thank Him for His love. And I weep for those that didn’t embrace His offer of love. Such love is too powerful. Shall we ignore it?

God bless you on this Valentine’s Day. He loves you deeply. Don’t ever forget that.