Faith, Hope & Love

​​I have found that there are just times where life is hard. Sometimes it’s hard because other people make mistakes, or do things in spite. It could be that you’re going through a season where everything you touch seems to be falling apart. Maybe you’ve lost loved ones. It’s times like this that really seem to overwhelm us.
Do y’all ever just cry out to God for Him to just hurry up and come to rescue us because you’re so tired and frustrated with this mess of a world? In times where everything stacks up against us, we have to stay strong in the faith because the enemy’s goal is to cause us to lose perspective and panic. Faith, Hope, and Love must remain. When we lose hope because our circumstances are just so overwhelming that we freak out, we also lose our faith. They go together: Faith, Hope, and Love. We can’t have one without the others. I’ve found that most people let go of hope pretty easily. We give up so fast. We get overwhelmed, and then become selfish way too fast. We typically hold onto faith, say we love, but let go of hope in an instant. But I need you to realize that you can’t have faith without hope, and without those your love is not real- at best it’s just appreciation or affection.
Let me give you an example. Someone comes to you and needs some help. You help them. A week later, they return and need help again, so you do. 3 days later, they come back, with the same story. You realize that this is just a cycle and they don’t really mean it because they are just playing you to take advantage of your kindness. You help them, but tell yourself this is the last time. Then they come back a few days later, and you tell them no. A few weeks go by and then they come back, begging. You tell them you are sorry, but you just can’t help them right now. A month goes by and you hear that something went wrong and now they are in trouble. You feel justified in the fact that you were right about them.
So let’s look at this with the perspective of Faith, Hope, and Love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  Love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13. Love keeps no record of wrongs, and it hopes all things, bears all things. But we can’t bear someone’s burdens for even 3 months. We can’t even help someone with hope that our kindness will set them free. We just don’t want to be taken advantage of. We don’t want to allow people to walk all over us. But in Matthew 5:44, Jesus said, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” We don’t want to allow people to spitefully use us, but Jesus told us it is just that act that allows us to be called sons of Abba in Heaven.
We must realize that our faith is proven in our humility and grace, not in our discipline and obedience. I want to encourage you today. I know how hard this is. I really do. However, we can’t be like the world. We must stay kind, gentle, and gracious in our dealing with people. So today, just let someone feel His love. Don’t make it about you. Make it about Jesus. Don’t just give them what they want. Give them Jesus. And exercise your Faith, your Hope, and your Love.

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