By: Phil Sanders
“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
In our confused, broken, and chaotic world, there are some fundamental things every person needs! Yes, they need each of these things. These things are not to be taken lightly or dismissed as trivial. They are the basics of life.
We need faith. Without faith, we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith, we cannot be saved (John 3:18; 8:24). Without trust in God, we are left to trust our feeble thoughts or the fickle opinions of the world. Opinions are guesses in the absence of evidence, while faith is built on God’s evidence in the world and Scripture.
We need hope. Life without hope leaves us empty in our souls. The struggles, disappointments, and heartaches of life leave us longing for something better than what we now know and have. The Lord provides us with a living hope in Christ Jesus (1 Peter 1:3-5). We have hope for forgiveness and hope for eternal life in heaven. Hope comes from trust in God’s promises. Since God keeps His promise, our hope is not in vain.
We need love. Love is the summum bonum of life, the highest good, the ultimate goal by which we determine our goals and morals. There is nothing higher than loving God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and loving our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).