LOVE is a Person by James Ryle

 God is Love.” (1 John 4:8).

For the past few days we have examined briefly the three great Virtues — Faith, Hope, and Love. The Scripture tells us that the greatest of these three is Love. The reason is clear — Faith is a Power, Hope is a Promise, and Love is a Person.

That Person is the Lord Himself.

God is Love 01Jesus said, “He that has seen Me, has seen the Father.” Christ came to reveal to each one of us the God that nobody knew. There were the fiery gods of the pagans, demanding the sacrifice of children to appease their demands. There were the brooding gods of the Hindus, leaving man in a never-ending-circle of searching — only to worship a cow.

There were the capricious gods of the Greeks, who leave man in doubt and dismay at the unpredictable twists and turns of life. And, of course, there is the angry god of Muslims, who evidently requires that his devotees slay all infidels to prove their faith, and then kill themselves in an unholy holy act to insure themselves 70 virgins in heaven. (By the way, did anyone bother to ask the virgins how they feel about this?)

And even the Christian Faith is filled with mixed images and vain imaginations about the One True God — leaving most of us motivated out of guilt, shame, or fear — rather than faith, hope, and love.

But God is Love — and we need only look into the face of Jesus and all our confusion about God is dispelled. So, now abides faith, hope and love — and the greatest of these is Love. For faith is a power, hope is a promise, but Love is a Person.

And once this Person befriends you and walks with you day by day — your faith will soar to heights unknown, and your hope will be securely fixed like an anchor in heaven as you sail the high seas of this spinning world.