Life is complicated and sometimes confusing. We might not be feeling good about ourselves or we are going through some challenging circumstances.
Paul wrote In I Corinthians 13:8, now abides faith, hope and charity, but the greatest of these is charity. In this verse charity means the Love of God. A few years ago, as a church staff member, I counseled sincere parishioners who struggled with guilt, doubt, and discouragement. At the close of the counseling sessions, I frequently asked a question that went something like this: I know you feel you have little hope, and your faith is low, but I must ask, can you honestly say that you love God? Virtually without fail, the answer was yes – I love God. I asked this question because I wanted those who were going through difficult times to be assured that their relationship with God was still in tact and they were not forsaken. And that although their faith and hope might wane at any given moment their love for God and His love for them will never fail! I knew that if they could hang on to this reality they would eventually find new pathways of hope and faith.
We fail more than we should. And more often than we want. Yet, our love for God is always the same. The love of God never fails even though we fail. We also, lose hope and faith when things get tough or go wrong. Yet, we find comfort knowing that we love God and God loves us. Faith and hope may fail but our love for God and His love for us – never fails!
Joseph C. Hutchison