The Three Storeyed Home

UV 1341/10,000 The Three Storeyed Home

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

I Corinthians 13 v 13

Our lives are the three-storeyed tabernacle or home of the Triune God in which we live or abide all our lives. God inspires us with faith, Jesus inspires us with love and the Holy Spirit inspires us with hope. Jesus is the rock foundation of our lives. Faith is the ground floor of our house built on the rock. Faith takes care of our need for provision. Love is the first floor with all the living rooms and hope is the top floor. Love characterises our relationships with God and others. Hope characterises our efforts. The home is being built here and now. We dwell or abide in it 24 x 7.

The three parts of our divine homes are inter-connected. If we have faith, we will demonstrate it in works of love and exhibit it in the hope of eternal life. Each thought, word or action of ours provides a building block of different materials for the construction of our tabernacles. We can choose to build with straw or with diamonds, sapphires and precious stones. Building with faith and hope is construed as building with rubies and sapphires but but building with love is building with diamonds that are multi-faceted. Love is the greatest attribute and is expressed in a variety of ways. Love is reflected in forgiveness, compassion, understanding, patience, tolerance, mercy, grace.

When faith, love and hope are combined in due proportion, it gives rise to the fullness of joy. Joy is not a mere emotion that we feel. It is a spiritual feeling of security, usefulness and meaning of life. It is not dependent on circumstances or events. Just as sand, cement, water and steel are mixed to form concrete, when faith, love and hope are combined, it forms the strongest basis for life to proceed. It produces the most powerful bonding that nothing can break.


Prateep V Philip