1 Corinthians 13:13 “But now abide faith, hope, love these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

And so with this verse we end our study of faith, hope, and love. It has taken a year and three months. Hopefully we will all still grow in faith, hope and love as we continue to meditate in God’s word.

As I considered what the next subject should be my family Christmas ritual came to mind. On Christmas Eve we started with a nice salmon dinner, then Dad would read the Christmas story from the family Bible which launched us into a lively discussion of a spiritual aspect of the Christmas story or another spiritual topic, followed with prayer. The gifts came last. After Dad passed away in 1990, my brother took over reading the Christmas Story. My mother would select the topic we were going to discuss. Many years ago she decided that each year a fruit of the spirit would be the topic and we would talk about how it related to the Christmas Story.

So as my mother continues draw closer to heaven, Galatians 5:23 will be the next topic of my blog. Here’s to you Mom and thanks for the idea, but most of all thanks for your example of faith, hope and love.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and *love and discipline.”

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect *love casts out fear,…”

Remember the young shepherd boy who took on a Philistine over nine feet tall with a sling and some stones? Why is the story of David and the Giant so intriguing? Because David refused to be afraid while facing an impossible situation. David did not like the fact that a Philistine was mocking the armies of the living God. He focused on defending God’s character.

Often we allow fear to take over, ruling our actions, like the Israeli army in 1 Samuel 17, we are afraid to take a stand for the Lord. In 2 Timothy the word timidity in the Greek means cowardice. Love has power - power to conquer even the most formidable giant.

*agape   

Amos 5:14 & 15 “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you, just as you have said! v15 Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of hosts may be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Growing up in the ‘love generation’ anytime I see the word hate it grabs my attention. God is trying to grab Israel’s attention.  When Amos is writing these verses it is a time of great prosperity and great corruption. God is about to judge the nation of Israel because of the great evil in the land - worshiping false gods, oppressing the poor. This is a warning. Amos is saying get your priorities right. Forsake evil and love the good. There is a way out of the coming doom.

Where is our nation? Are we ignoring God? What are our priorities? Do we love good and encourage others to do the same?

Matthew 5:43 “But I say to you, *love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you;” v.46 “For if you *love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax gatherers do the same?”

Our Lords command would be impossible to obey if we try to fulfill it in our own power. But that is the beauty of walking with the Lord and relying on His strength. He gives us the power to love even our enemies. 

As we have discussed before the word agape here is a love that depends on the character of the one loving not on anything attractive in the recipient.

Loving our enemies is grace in action. After all, Jesus Christ gave His life for us while we were still His enemies. We were enemies of the cross until we believed He died for our sins.

*agape