And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Of all the gifts and graces that are poured out in great abundance into the lives of believers, there are three that out-shine and out-last all others. We are told that these three, spiritual fruits of God will continue and will remain and abide into the eternal state. They are faith, hope, and love. Faith is vital, for we live by faith and not by sight. The blessed hope we have in Christ, for His soon return, does not put us to shame. God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to all who trust in Christ for salvation. Both faith and hope are a beautiful manifestation of the love of God in the life of a believer, because I repeat, we live by faith and not by sight. We live in hope of our promised, eternal state…for we live in incorruptible bodies. But love is the greatest of all, for it will not only remain but it will enlarge and expand. It will increase, and then it will grow even more…not only in this present age but in the eternal ages to come. But love is a gift of God, and love is the primary fruit of the Spirit that will continue to grow and expand, beyond our wildest imaginings. The love of God is broader than the measure of our mind. The loving heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind. But this life is the first step into an eternity of love with God; the love of God and our love for God, and these three graces of faith, hope and love must of necessity all continue beyond this world, for the attributes of God are incomparable in their beauty. His perfections are unlimited in their number. His excellence is everlasting in its duration and splendour is absolute in its span. But it is the love of God that He has for us that will move us ever closer to the love that we have for Him; as we abide in Him and He in us, through time and into eternity.
Spiritual Steve 