9/28/2024 0 Comments Faith, Hope and Love - Part 11 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. What is the difference between Faith and Hope and as the song says, what's love got to do with it? More on love in a later entry. Faith is the “substance” of things hoped for. Clearly, faith has something that hope does not have. It has substance. It has evidence. It is a step beyond hope. An example might help understand this better. In the business world, I often call meetings where I send out email invites to multiple people. Most people respond by accepting or declining the meeting notice. For those that accept the invitation, I have faith that they will attend because I have “evidence”, their response, that they have given me.
Sometimes people, however, do not respond either way. But based on my history with certain people, I know that they are often very busy and even though they do not respond, they will show up anyway. I do not have their assurance or evidence or word that they will attend but I know how they operate and their character so I have a hopeful confidence that they will attend. Many times as we pray about something we will cling to a promise from God’s word and have an assurance that God is speaking to us through His word. That word is "substance" which we add to our hope in God and that is faith. Or maybe God will give you a sign that makes an impression on your heart and you know it is God sending a personal message to you about your situation. The sign is the evidence which elevates hope into faith. Sometimes you do not have this evidence but you know how God operates because you know Him and His character. You have learned to expect God to behave in certain ways. This is the foundation for Hope. Hope = Belief + Knowledge of the person Faith = Belief + Knowledge of person + Evidence
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