These beautiful words of St. Paul are the conclusion of the great “Love Chapter” included in his letter to the Church at Corinth. Later theologians would call these three the Theological Virtues. They are three distinct aspects of the Christian life, but they are inseparable.
Faith is the foundation. This is a pure gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). Faith is the habit of the heart that causes a person to look always at “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
In Jesus on the cross we see the power of God at work. There God is defeating Satan. There, by His own blood, He atones for the sin of the world. There, also, God shows us the pattern of the Christian life: that there is life in the midst of death, victory in the appearance of defeat, power and wisdom in what the world judges as weak and foolish.
Hope springs from such faith. Hope is that habit of the heart that is always gazing at the empty grave. Hope sees that Jesus arose on the third day and believes that the faithful, too, shall rise to live before God in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.
Christian hope is not like the hope of the world. The hope of the world is uncertain. It is more like a wish that may, or may not, come true. But Christian hope is certain. It is the absolute confidence that Jesus’ resurrection guarantees the bodily resurrection of all the faithful.
Nothing, not even death itself, can overcome the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So, hope grounds a person’s life in confidence. Your well-being no longer depends on the fickle world. It does not depend on the wisdom of rulers, or the kindness of others. Christ alone, crucified and risen again, is your protection from every evil.
Therefore, love proceeds from faith and hope. The faith that sees only Jesus Christ crucified and the hope that always sees Him risen from the grave, frees the human heart from every care and worry and turns the eyes outward. In love, you can turn your eyes to your neighbor.
Love looks to others not for what they can give, but for what they need. Just as “God so loved the world, that he gave” (John 3:16), so also the love of a Christian is always giving. This is what makes Christian love unique.
Worldly love is always looking for someone who can fill needs. Godly love sees people not for what they can give, but for what they can receive. That’s why godly love can focus on the smallest, the weakest, the least deserving and the least able to repay.
God’s love reaches out to you not because you are wise or worthy, strong or beautiful, but because you are in need of His love—and He loves to give. This is the greatest news in the universe. The love of God, while undeserved, is unwavering and does not depend on anything other than the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Faith, hope and love, these are the Theological Virtues, the qualities which flow from God alone. They are not something for you to achieve, but gifts for God to give as an inseparable trinity. Faith begets hope. From faith and hope proceeds love. “And the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).