I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NLT
Have you ever received a gift that when you opened it there was another gift inside...and then another gift in that gift box...then another, and then yet another gift? The best gift is the last, innermost gift. This is the giftingest time of the year and everyone likes to receive a gift...even if they are saying "BaHumbug" and professing to not enjoy Christmas. God has a gift for everyone and it includes Faith, Hope, and Love. Faith, like the outer box in a surprise gift box, is the basis for God's gift. You have to have faith to receive the gift. Funny thing that Faith and the Gift are both received from God.
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1 NLT.
Without Faith, we are lost. God gives us Faith and as we use it, we please God.
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NLT.
The next inner package in this present is Hope, that element in life that helps us to endure, that gives us a reason for living. Without Hope, we are lost. Hope is the thing that we experience when we see a flower bud and know that it will open into a beautiful flower. Hope is the anticipation that people feel who have had a relative or friend die, but who know that they will one day see them again in Heaven with our risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. 1 Peter 1:21 NLT
But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8 NLT
Look for God...and you will find Him and His abundant love.
But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, "God is great!" Psalm 70:4 NLT
No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39 NLT
Jesus taught over and over...love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength...and love your neighbor as yourself, as you can read in Matthew 22:37-39 and Luke 10:25-37. Jesus wants us to show that we love Him by keeping His commandments--and He wants us to love others.
No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. 1 John 4:12 NLT
What is in your present...from God? Faith, Hope, and Love? Is God living in and through you today?
Prayer ~ Lord, May we experience Your love, though it is too great to understand fully. Then we will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from You, our God. Ephesians 3:19 NLT
Daily Bible Reading: Acts 29-30
Only 10 Days Until Christmas
© 2019 Text and drawing by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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