Why is love the greatest in comparison with faith and hope?

I have often wondered from a theological standpoint why love is considered the greatest in comparison with faith and hope, and the faith-based conclusion of why this exists is actually very similar to the research-based reason. God is love, and love seems to be the essential building block of both faith and hope. Most of the problems that are addressed in 1 Corinthians require a certain amount of love to help resolve them. For example, the church is cautioned against their lack of unity in Chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, and love for God and one another is definitely necessary for the church to come together as one.

Faith, hope, and love are key elements to one’s life, from a biblical perspective, and each of them plays their role in a healthy spiritual lifestyle. The importance of love is shown in many more important places, for example, the Holy Trinity: “Love is as necessary to the triune God as blood is to a living being. The interrelationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is defined in terms of mutual love”. This statement shows how important love is down to the very crucial level where the Holy Trinity is divided equally by shared love. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are all very famous for their matrimonial connection, but the relationship between all three would not work if there was no real incomparable love. Love is as important to the Trinity as blood is to a human. This reveals that love is the integral part of the Trinity that makes it tick, and the absence of it would mean death for the trio

The biblical definitions of faith, hope, and love are useful tools that can be used to see the reason for love’s elevation over the other two. The bible definition of love is monumental: “The biblical ideas of love referred to: A desire for the best for another, even if it cost us something. A shorter way of saying this would be to say that biblical love is "Sacrificial Love". Obtaining the best for another, even an enemy, at our cost.” This statement shows the weight that the word “love” really carries. It takes a lot to want the best for someone else even if it costs you something, and a vast majority of people can’t honestly say they have ever loved someone under this condition. If it is already extremely hard to show sacrificial love for people in general, then it is a totally different accomplishment to have this love for an enemy.

In order to make sense of love’s superiority over faith and love, one must evaluate the relationship between the three focuses. Love is essential to the make-up of each of them, and it is the supreme sentiment in this trio: “Love is the greatest, because it is the root of the other two; "we believe only in that which we love; we hope only for that which we love. This statement acknowledges the fact that faith and hope are both centered around love. It makes sense that the one out of the three that is most significant is actually contemporaneous in all three. Without love, it is understood that faith and hope could not exist completely. Faith and hope both have the potential to waver, but one’s love is more foundationally stable and important to one’s spiritual make up. Love is the greatest and is essential to the existence of all three: “Yet love stands supreme; indeed, both faith and hope would perish without her”.

One can possess a great deal of love and lack faith and hope, but faith and hope can’t be present without love in the midst. Love is the equivalent of the bread in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and faith and hope are the peanut butter and jelly. The love is indispensable and vital to the process of completing the sandwich as a whole.

The Message Bible translation of 1 Corinthians 13:13 gave a broader view of the scripture in its entirety. This translation declares, “1 Corinthians 13:13 (MSG) But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.” This transformation of the scripture helped me to further see that love is the foundation for hope and love. There is no way that one can trust steadily in God and unswervingly hope if they do not first love God. One is not going to seek to accomplish the first two tasks if the third task is not already present.                                                                                       

God is defined as the epitome of love, and naturally it makes sense for love the be the greatest in comparison to faith and hope. The base of God’s very being is rooted in love and God is eternal: “The contrast is not between love which is imperishable and faith and hope which are perishable, but between ephemeral gifts and enduring graces”. This passage identifies the everlasting trait of love, as opposed to faith and hope’s sketchy existence. Love is not defined as a characteristic of who God is. It is recorded as the foundation of all that He is made of. Characteristics are something we learn from our environment, religion, and family, but love was innately ingrained in who God is and is the staple of His existence. The biggest issue that some people have is their love for people, because it is hard to measure up to the love example that God has set forth.

In conclusion, the research I did on this blog is instrumental in my understanding the “why” behind the prominence of love over faith and hope. There are many scriptures in the Bible that convey the importance of love and how it should look, but there is a lack of information on the reason why love is held in such high esteem. Love is the basis for faith and hope; therefore, love is elevated to a higher level than them. There are many important instances where love plays an immense role, such as the Holy Trinity. Love balances each level of the Holy Trinity out through equal and reciprocated love. The greatest of the three is love because God is just that.