Understanding Love, Hope and Faith 2
(week 52/06)
Olubi Johnson
In our article last week, we were studying love, hope and faith. We continue our study this week to see how they are developed and interconnected.
Now love, hope and faith are all developed by the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit:
For love:
1 John 2:5 NKJV: But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.
Ephesians 3:16-17 NIV: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love
For hope:
Romans 15:4 NKJV: For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Romans 15:13 NKJV: Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
For faith:
Romans 10:17 NKJV: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Jude 20 NKJV: But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
Furthermore, we see an eternal cycle:
Love conceives hope; hope becomes faith at the time of fulfillment, faith then creates the experience of the hope that love conceived so causing love to become a reality and so increasing our experience of love and thus hope.
So faith works only when motivated by the purity of love and the hope love conceives is only experienced by the creative power of faith:
Galatians 5:6 NKJV: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
As we go into the New Year purpose to develop love, hope and faith, by the Word and power of the Holy Spirit, to experience the fullness of God’s love: His thoughts and goodwill towards you.
