Does anything have value anymore? Does anything last? Does anything have like a sense of permanence? We buy a brand new car and the moment we drive it off the lot it begins to depreciate. We buy a new computer or a cellphone, and within months it seems to become obsolete. We pick up the morning newspaper and by the time we unfold it and start to read and grab our coffee, The news within it becomes fossilized. The apostle paul understood this, and he said out of all those things, that'll change. Three things will always remain no matter what is faith, hope and love. Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand that spiritual gifts were important. But faith, you know trusting in God and his goodness and his mercy hope the idea of looking forward to the arrival and the reign of God in its fullest form and love selflessly serving others. Those three things were spiritual realities of a totally different kind in eternity. Spiritual gifts will fade away, but faith, hope, love, those will remain.
And while these three remain, he said the greatest of these is love. Why is love the greatest? Well, first, love is an attribute of God, and God is eternal. Secondly, in eternity, our faith will be turned into sight and our hope will be turned into reality. So faith and hope won't be necessary love. On the other hand, man will endure forever. it's the only attribute that will be fully active as we continue to love God and his people in a world where people long for permanence. Let's keep trusting in the goodness and the mercy of God, looking forward to the arrival of his promised kingdom and serving others out of our love for God, when we live this way, when we give people this kind of love, we give them a glimpse of the spiritual realities of the new heaven and the new earth. In what way will you demonstrate love this week?
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