Hebrews 11:1
By Faith
1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
1 Corinthians 13:11-13
Faith, Hope, and Love
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
John 10:10
Abundant and Full Life
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
How can one be sure of what we hope for?...How can we be certain of something that we cannot see?...When we are children, we often hope for things (some or many of childhood things we hope for may or may not be real)...We also dream that we are doing this or that with someone else -playing and hoping for grand things...We dream and hope for many things when we are children...St. Paul says when we are young we talk, think, and reason like children...But it is as a child we also learn about love...A baby learns to bond with and love the ones who give them regular care and affection...They will love their parents and the ones who raised them all their lives...As we age, we learn and have more of life's experiences, both good and bad...And from these life's experiences, we learn a lot...St. Paul tells us that even after he has became a man, and an older one at that (and he can tell he is older now by looking into his mirror) -the three greatest things in life are faith, hope, and love...And the greatest of these three things in life is love...
Without faith, hope, and love there is not much for us in life...We find out without any faith, and any hope, and any love that life is hollow, very hollow...We need these three great things to live, especially if we want to live an abundant and a full life on earth...Without these three great things, life cannot be lived abundantly...For us to live a full life, we need faith in our lives -faith in Jesus...We are made in God's Image...God, who sent His Son to us, so we could meet Him in the Four Gospels (and some were lucky enough and privileged enough to walk with Him while He was on the earth) seems to have permeated our brains (or our souls) with thoughts and thinking of faith, hope, and love...God has sent His Son to show us that life can have faith, hope, and love in it...One of Jesus' Great Saints and Apostles (and ours too) named Paul, tells us that we need to learn that we need these three things of faith, hope, and love in our lives...When we learn these three things and realize their importance -life gets better...When we find Jesus in our lives -we find that we really can live life more abundantly...And as I read through all of St. Paul's letters, I almost feel him pounding on a table and saying Jesus, Jesus, Jesus -get to know Jesus...Learn these things of faith, hope, and love and you will get to know Him better -and have a better life...An abundant and full life is a better life...
There is so much Love in faith...Faith is somehow a part of Love...I am not sure if one can have faith, if he does not know how to love...The Hebrew's author definition of faith to me is about Love...That is how I read this definition of faith, that he has written...We hope for love to fill our lives, and it is a goal of all people to have people around them that love them...Love cannot be seen, yet we know love when we have it...So faith is better explained (at least to me) with Love, His Love...I am certain that love is in and around my wife and my family, but love is something intangible and something I cannot see (yet, I am certain that it is there)...God has given me love on earth, to show me not only have faith in Him, but to love Him...And through this Love link by the Holy Spirit, we see this slice of our LORD...We better see that Love connects our faith in God and to God...And as we increase our faith, as Paul did -we see that a full life not only includes faith, hope, and love -it also includes Jesus...