Faith, hope, love: How to keep standing
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV).
Without “faith, hope and love” we will always lose the battle against sin in the many trials of life, but with these three we will always keep standing. It is impossible to please God without faith, and without love we are nothing. Also, we have no hope without faith or love. But with faith and love we can always be joyful, because then we have a living hope that will never put us to shame. (Romans 5:5.)
In Luke 21:36 (NIV) Jesus says, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” The Bible tells us that there will be difficult times before Jesus returns. The love of many will become cold, and people will be very afraid because of all those things that are coming on the earth. (Luke 21:26.)
Jesus says further, “Be careful. If you aren’t, your hearts will be loaded down with wasteful living, drunkenness and the worries of life. Then the day the Son of Man returns will close on you like a trap. You will not be expecting it.” Luke 21:34 (NIRV).
People can become totally discouraged by all the things they see and hear around them. They do not have that faith that holds them up and gives them hope. The Son of Man remained standing in everything. No one and nothing could overcome Him, and we can stand in the same Spirit of faith and love together with Him, both on this earth and in all eternity.
Spiritual weapons
Through faith we are kept safe by God’s power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time. (1 Peter 1:5.) When we have faith, we are able to see this great salvation and the glory for which we are being kept. Then we can suffer, endure, and bear all things, when we “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, He thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and He is now seated at the right side of God's throne.” Hebrews 12:2 (GNT).
“Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” Ephesians 6:13 (NLT).
Our battle is against evil powers, against the sin in our human nature, and we must be well armed to be able to stand, even in the time of evil, after we have overcome everything. With faith, hope, and love, we will remain standing!