Faith and Love

We’ve been thinking about the role of faith this week - of how Peter put his faith in Christ. And yet, as we’ve seen in other places this week, the emphasis has always been love over faith.

Yes, faith is so, so important. But aren’t our great professions of faith were actually just expressions of love for God and people?

Think about the end of the Gospel of John when Peter is being restored to Jesus. What does Jesus ask him? He does not ask, “Do you believe in me, Peter?” Nope. He asks, “Do you love me?”

As Paul writes in one of his letters:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Faith is great. Love is greater. And of course they go together. This is how Paul puts it elsewhere: The only thing matters is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6).

How often have you separated out faith as some sort of magic spell, as in, “If I have enough, I’ll be fine”? What Perhaps the real question is really, “How well does my faith show up as love - and how can I love better?”