Northshore Baptist Church - Three to Thrive: Faith, Hope, Love

Three to Thrive: Faith, Hope, Love

Like a good parent God wants the best for us. He wants us to thrive. When we consider the teachings of the New Testament we see that the thriving life that Jesus has come to give us is characterized by two things: love for God and love for others (Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27-28).

The Spirit of God is working to remake us into men and women who live that out daily. As we do that more and more, as we take off the things that get in the way of loving God and loving others, we will truly live (Lk 10:28). We will step into the fullness of life that Jesus has come to give us and that Satan seeks to steal (John 10:10). Simple enough, but it turns out that love is very difficult in practice. In fact, Biblical love is downright impossible without two other essentials that the Spirit of God is building in us: faith and hope.

These three—faith, hope, and love—are primary themes throughout the Bible and they make up a framework used by the apostle Paul to examine the condition of his churches and strengthen them where needed. The interplay of faith, hope, and love in his writings is seen most clearly in 1-2 Thessalonians (ex. 1 Thess 1:2-3), Colossians (ex. 1:3-8), and in this classic:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

Through the series Three to Thrive: Faith, Hope, and Love running July 11-25 you will learn what defines and undermines each of them, and you will take away the Pauline framework to help you more fully love God and love others wherever you are.

Love

Hope

Faith

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