THESE THREE REMAIN

When all is done, all is accomplished, all is pursued, there is a reason why it is written that these are the THREE that matter. There is a reason why these are the things that remain forever. 

"Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Our faith is more precious than gold, it gets tested, so we better esteem faith more than gold. Would it not be great to be known as a faith digger than a gold digger? Seeing that faith is more valuable than gold? Just a thought.

Faith - Jesus is the author and finisher/perfector of our faith.
Hope - hope gets tested in perseverance. God calls Himself the God of Hope. That tells you something about Hope. Hope is pretty big!
Love - we know that love matters because without love whatever we accomplish is burnt in the fire if it is without love, it is simply not beautiful, not acceptable, not worthy.

Thoughts on HOPE:

Romans 5 tells us that Hope is a matter of CHARACTER. I never realised that. Hope is serious. If you think about it, it takes a whole lot of character to keep your hope up! Giving up and letting go of your hope is an easier option. You quickly releave yourself from possible disappointments. Hope requires persisting in the hope, hope against hope as described by Romans 4.

 "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed..." - Romans 4:18

Romans 5 lists the order like this. 

# 1 SUFFER

# 2 PERSEVERE

# 3 CHARACTER

# 4 HOPE

Thus number 4 is achieved as a result of being able to go through the others. That said, one needs hope when they are suffering, in order to overcome suffering. But I am wrong, it is joy that takes you through suffering. James 1 says "Count it all joy when you go through various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces patience."

Hebrews 12 says "For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross."

These three remain, Faith, Hope, Love.
I wondered why faith came before hope. Faith enables you to keep your hopes up, when you have hope it means that your faith is going through the fire and it is being tested and refined and you are gaining character to keep going and keep hoping.

So let us keep our hopes UP! God enables us!