The Three Dimensions of Spiritual Life

UV 425/10000 I Corinthians 13 v 13 The Three Dimensions of Spiritual life " And now these three remain: faith,hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." The Word affirms life as a three dimensional phenomenon. The three dimensions of the spiritual life are faith, hope and love. These are the three basic values from which all other values are only derivatives. Faith is needed for our relationship with our loving Creator. Hope is needed in our daily lives and work to move from day to day. Our hope is that things will get better, that our needs will be met, our desires fulfilled, our objectives achieved. Love is needed in our relationships. Faith is the root while hope and love are the fruits from that root. With faith,hope and love we can competently handle all of life' s challenges. All our thoughts, words and actions over time will be characterised by faith, hope and love. These three values together form the DNA and matrix of our lives. Socrates said that " knowing ourselves is the essence of knowledge." But the Word says that love is the essence of life which should lend its flavour to all we think,speak, feel and do. Love is defined not only by what it is, namely, patience and kindness but what it is not, namely, not rude, not selfish, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, not angry or irritable. Love is the greatest as it is the agape love of God that made Him reach out to save mankind. The other day a speaker said so rightly, " My earthly father loves me because I am his son but God loves me because He is love." Humility is a by-product of faith of knowing who we are vis a- vis the Almighty Creator. We stop struggling with the Lord as Jacob did and surrender to the knowledge and hope that He knows what is best for us. Joy is a by-product of the hope we have in Christ. The end result is that we move from a state of no control, to self control and finally to " God control" of our lives. Prateep V Philip