The Christ-follower walks in faith, hope, and love.
Christ-followers have faith in the One they follow. They trust Jesus with their present and their future. They even trust Jesus with their finances, realizing that they are blessed so that they can bless others.
The hope of the Christ-follower is different from the hope of those who don’t follow Christ. The hope of a Christ-follower is surrounded in expectation, while the hope of others is surrounded in wishful thinking. Christ’s followers fully expect the LORD to keep His promises because they serve Him with total abandonment.
The love of Christ’s followers is a supernatural gift that is given to them by the Holy Spirit. With this supernatural gift, they are able to love not only the lovable but also the unlovable. They love as Christ has loved them.
Out of these three—faith, hope, and love—the greatest is love.
Beloved, allow Christ to build within you faith, hope, and love. Pursue the gift of love given by the Holy Spirit.
SCRIPTURE:
“And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13, NRSV).
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the faith, hope, and love that you build within me as I follow Christ. Please give me more of your gift of love. Help me love my enemies. Help me love the unlovable. Give me ways today to exercise faith, hope, and love so that they grow within me. May your supreme gift of love shine through me to others today. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.
Excerpted from the book, Be Encouraged: A Daily Devotional, Volume 2 by Gregory A. Johnson. Copyright © by Gregory A. Johnson. All rights reserved.
