Faith as a Characteristic of Love
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith. The very foundation of salvation and an integral part of love. Let’s face it; it’s difficult to love someone when we don’t trust that person or feel we can’t count on them. Doubt leads to bitterness, resentment, and other hard feels while faith leads to love, understanding, and joy. Isn’t it amazing how much these characteristics of love intertwine with one another?
In the love chapter, we see two descriptions that specifically point to faith. One of them we’ve already linked with another characteristic, but as we’ve already seen through the course of this study, several of them could fall under different categories. Let’s examine the two statements about how love and faith are connected.
“Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ”
If we zero in on the middle of the verse, we’ll see faith in action. It believes and hopes all things. Not just some things. It isn’t limited to things we understand or circumstances we desire. No, "all things" literally means all things: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
In the nasty now and now, it’s easy to lose faith. For example, after countless visits to the chiropractor, my joints refuse to stabilize. My latest attempt at strength training (in hopes of building up enough strength in the muscle to protect and secure the joints) resulted in severe back trauma that is still giving me fits. This, of course, put me in the place where I wasn’t able to exercise, and so the cycle began again. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve repeated this process, yet healing still seems so very far away. When the masseuse at the chiropractor commented in horror about the knots in my shoulders and neck, I nearly broke into tears.
Yes, it’s easy to lose faith. Many times, I’ve given in to the false idea that things will never change. I’ll never get better. If anything, things will only continue to get worse. Isn’t that what happens with age? Goodbye, hope. Goodbye, peace. Goodbye, joy. Hello, depression and despair. (The comical song from the old show Hee-Haw just ran through my mind—“If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me.” That sums up what my attitude is like when I turn my back on faith and choose hopelessness instead.
Hopelessness has never helped anyone. It merely serves as a breeding ground for discontentment, discouragement, and defeat. But faith, ah, faith can move mountains. Faith not only believes God can but also acts like He will. It trusts facts over feelings. Faith refuses to give up or give in. Why? Because of love.
I love God enough to trust He can heal me. I love Jason too much to give up on myself and allow myself to wallow in self-pity for the rest of my days. And I love myself enough to keep on keeping on. Is it difficult? Gracious, yes! Are there times I falter? More times than I can count. But here’s the blessing of all blessings—God loves me too much to give up on me. He knows what I’m capable of. He knows the blessings He has in store for me. And He loves me enough that He encourages me to keep going, to keep believing, to hold fast to hope.
Believe me, my friend, He’ll do the same for you!
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