Faith, Hope, and Love

I Thessalonians 1:3 "We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ." What an inspiration the people of Thessalonica are. Paul says in verse 8a that "The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere." Oh to have that kind of faith! I would love to be known and remembered by many people solely because of my faith! How did the people of Thessalonica accomplish such an amazing accomplishment that they were known EVERYWHERE because of their faith in God? This is where we go back to looking at verse 3. Their work came about and was accomplished because of their faith. They did things because they were prompted to because of their love. They endured through difficulties and kept pressing on because of their hope in the Lord. Did you see it? Everything they did was because of their faith, hope, and love. Our life will have a huge impact on those around us when we make sure everything we say and do is said and done out of faith, hope, and love.

Luke 15:11-24 tells the parable of the lost son and his father's reaction to him when he returned home. When the son finally came to his senses, he hoped his dad would make him like one of the hired men. He didn't have enough faith that his father would embrace him again as a son, but he did realize he needed to go back home and apologize. The father hoped his son would one day return home. The father had faith that his son would apologize and ask to come back home. The father loved his son so much that he ran to him, embraced and kissed him, and threw a party when his son returned home. The father displayed faith, hope, and love. When someone hurts you, do have faith that God can work on their heart and cause them to change? Do you also turn to the Lord to ensure that your heart isn't hardened by the pain? Do you hope that they will come to apologize? Do you show them love and quickly forgive them? We need to make sure that no matter what happens in our life, we always display faith, hope, and love.