Faith, Hope and Love

While we rejoice that when we embrace the work of Christ by faith we are forever forgiven, loved and adopted, faith itself isn’t a one-off, but a calling. We are to grow in our faith, to move from faith to faith, to believe God more fully each day. When He promises He is with us always, we rejoice. When He promises He will never forsake us, we rejoice. Faith, however, is not just something we cultivate, but for me, something I’ve had the blessing of witnessing. What attracted me to beloved wife was first her faith. I watched her walk through hardship and challenge with her eyes on the Lord, resting in His faithfulness. I watched her proclaim His grace fearlessly. I watched her take genuine and deep risks, forgoing the faithless counsel of friends, and sometimes even my counsel, because she believed God.

My love not only walked in faith, but that faith spilled out to others, especially me. When we met I was a man without hope, counting down the days until my body joined my spirit in the grave. I believed I was good for nothing. Her belief in me instilled in me the blessings of hope. I always lived in hope of the eschaton, confident that the “not yet” would be beyond my imagination. She reminds me that Jesus reigns now and that the “already” is His world, that He is at work in the here and now, that He is not only high and exalted, but is likewise always near. Listening to her prayers I feel Him fill the room, because such is just where He is. Since she became my wife I wake each morning in gratitude and in hope, praising God for all His blessings, for the blessing of my bride and looking forward to seeing Him at work, at walking in those mercies that begin afresh each day.

The greatest of these is love. It is an immeasurably deep blessing to be able to love my wife. It is life giving to give love, to pour into her my delight in her. It is, however, not just blessed to give but also to receive. That is, it is an immeasurably deep blessing to be loved by my wife. This woman who walks by faith, who spills out hope, showers me with her love. Better still, she loves her Redeemer. To walk with my beloved is to follow after our Lord. He is the third strand that binds the two strands so closely together. He is our reason for being, our end and purpose, together.

Never has He blessed me more fully than He has in giving me Lisa as my wife and my Valentine. She will Be Mine, forever.