Moment With The Master
“Faith, Hope, Love”
“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,” (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
Paul’s first letter was to the church of the Thessalonians. He expresses thanks to God for the fruit of the gospel in Thessalonica. He singles out three fundamental traits - faith, hope, and love. He was encouraged by their energetic operation among the saints there.
Faith is a firm persuasion, conviction, or trust in the unseen. Though one has never seen God, having examined the evidence they believe and trust in him. When one fully trusts God they will yield to his authority and will. Thus, true faith is active.
Love involves a high regard, goodwill, or benevolence toward others. It is manifested in deeds of kindness toward others. In this context, love is coupled with “labor” – a word which is best rendered as toil and pain. However, when coupled with love, such effort is no longer a burden, but a work of the highest motives.
Hope is a confident expectation of the future. Jesus Christ and his appearing is the object of our hope. God‘s people eagerly await the Lord’s appearing with the eternal blessings he will offer. Because of this promise, God’s people are able to patiently endure the trials of life and fix their eyes on these rewards.
These three – faith, hope, and love are inseparable graces. Faith must always work by love. (Galatians 5:6) Hope is connected to love “because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.“ (Romans 5:5) Faith is “the substance of things hoped for.” (Hebrews 11:1) Faith is the root from which hope and love spring forth and bear fruit. Later in the letter, Paul exhorts them to put “on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation”. (1 Thessalonians 5:13)
Love must be guided by faith and hope. Hope is only a dream without faith and love. And love and faith can be motivated by hope. Paul is thankful that these three graces are actively operating among the saints of Macedonia. What about you?
