Mar 8 The Greatest Thing

Mar 8

   What is the Greatest Thing?

1Co 13:13 …but the greatest of these is charity.

This verse that ends the “love chapter” in 1 Corinthians 13 is a familiar verse to most of us.

1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity,

these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Years ago I found three ceramic tiles in a gift shop. Each tile has one of the words Faith, Hope and Charity, and they hang on our wall as a reminder.

Faith, Hope and Charity are all very important, so why does Paul emphasize charity above the others. Oh, before we go on, I need to explain a little about the word charity. My King James Bible uses the word charity, while most translations use the word love. Today we use the word charity to refer to giving for the unfortunate, like throwing a dollar into the Salvation Army kettle at Christmas, but the word charity is a much bigger word. The Oxford English dictionary has dozens of different meanings for the word charity, one of which is love. Most dictionaries show different shades of meaning for the word charity.  There is a lot more to be said about this word, but it will have to wait for another day.

What are faith, hope and charity and why is one more important than the others? I’m glad you asked.

The Bible tells us a lot about faith. It can be dead (James 2:17), it can be little (Matt 16:8), it can be increased (Luke 17:5) it can be sound (Titus 1:3). Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom 10:17) it is the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1) and required to please God. (Heb 11:6). Faith also should direct our walk (2 Cor 5:7) is our shield (Eph 6:16) essential in prayer (James 1:6) and  in (Jude 1:3) we are told to contend for the faith

The word hope is commonly used in the sense we hope something will happen but are not sure it will.  We cross our fingers and hope we win some contest. We hope we will pass the test we didn’t study for. We hope for a lot of things knowing they probably won't happen. But that isn’t the kind of hope the Bible talks about.

Webster says hope is “To expect with confidence, anticipation of fulfillment, trust, reliance, expectation”. It is the kind of hope that a lady exhibited when she attended a prayer meeting in a drought stricken area.  The church had gathered to pray for rain. She was the only one that brought an umbrella. that is the kind of hope we are talking about.   

The Bible has a lot to say about that kind of hope. We have blessed hope (Titus 2:13)  lively hope (1 Pet 1:13) an anchor for our souls (Heb 6:19) and our hope encourages pure living (I John 3:3) gladness (Psalm 10:28) and happiness (Psalm 146:5). It is a cure for discouragement  (Psalm 42:11) gives us confidence (Rom 5:5) is a heavenly treasure (Col 1:5) and provides opportunity for witnessing (1 Pet 3:15).    

The word Love (or charity) is found a multitude of times in our bible. But so are faith and hope. So why does the Bible say that “…the greatest of these is charity”   

Ga 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Here we find love and faith are connected. We see another example of that connection in the book of 1 Timothy.

1Ti 1:5 ¶ Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

Timothy was surrounded by false teachers (vrs 4) and Paul told him that love is the end of the commandment and comes from a pure heart, good conscience and real faith.

      We only need to look at a few other verses to understand why love is said to be the greatest. In Galatians chap 5 where Paul lists the fruit of the spirit we find the first one mentioned is love, with faith listed later.

     Joshua issued a charge to the Israelites after they had secured the Promised Land.

Jos 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Since Joshua’s time the law has been replaced by grace, but not the need to love one another. Paul, when listing the ten commandments, summarized them with this comment.

Ro 13:9 …Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

And again in 1 John we read

1Jo 4:21 And this commandment have we from him,

That he who loveth God love his brother also.

The only verse we really needed to look at was Christ's response to a scribe that asked a question. Here, in answering the scribe's question, we read that Christ declared love to be the greatest.

Mr 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mr 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Before you ask what is the devotional thought in all this study of words, let me close with one more verse which should give you a devotional thought for the day.

2Jo 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Getting our walk to match our talk is a most difficult, but essential thing. May the Holy Spirit be our guide as we seek to walk in His ways and learn to love one another. 

…but the greatest of these is charity.