The greatest

“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What will last? I will die one day, so will we all. The earth and sky will one day be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth, one not subjected to the destroyer. It will be as God had always intended, free from evil and sin. However, this scripture indicated that three things will be unchanged: faith, hope and love, love being the greatest.

Why is love the greatest? Perhaps because love is the core of who God is. His love is pure and not defiles by human passion and lust. We have so muddied our concept of love through lust. Young women think they must appear as idols of lust to find a mate, yet all they welcome is use and abuse. Our God had a pure and beautiful plan for us.

The apostle James said: Religion that is pure and undefiled is this: to visit orphans and widows and to keep oneself unstained by trh world (James 1:27). Does this challenge you? How does this relate to love? Do you even know orphans? I do! However, I meet them in Nepal not Australia. Do I know widows? No! I know many divorcees, but not widows in Australia, perhaps Nepal. Why did James choose these? To visit widows and orphans I must be choosing love. To intentionally visit them I must be laying down my fleshly lusts and walking in the opposite direction. To keep unstained by the world is refusing to partake in its programs of materialism, greed, selfishness and lusts.

Christmas is coming and so is the challenge to be unstained. What will you do?