The opening lyrics learned in my childhood from a song written by Dale Evans Rogers speak of three essential aspects of the Christian walk:
Have faith, hope and charity,
That's the way to live successfully.
How do I know, the Bible tells me so.
These three qualities form the basis for a three-part Christianity 101 series:
Volumes could be written and have been, for that matter, on each of these topics, so my discussions will provide a basic introduction to each concept, all three of which are mentioned in the last verse of I Corinthians 13 which provides the quintessential definition of “charity” which is also translated “love” in the following poem which introduces all three elements:
These Three
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,
1 Thessalonians 1:3
As Abraham lived by faith, trusted and obeyed,
So we walk by faith and follow his example,
For God is faithful and through His Word conveyed
That the blessings of the Lord are more than ample.
Despite the storms of life, we are anchored in hope.
As Kingdom citizens with their minds set above,
We view heavenly bodies as through a telescope
And soar beyond the world on wings of a dove.
We seek to follow after Christ, the more excellent way,
To walk in love and simply follow his command.
Renewing our minds in all that we do and say,
We seek not be understood but to understand.
Live by faith, rejoice in hope, walk in love and see
Faith, hope and love: Love is the greatest of these three.
Comments
Love this...I'm learning more and more how to live this! Thanks for the reminder.
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