1 Corinthians 13:13 – “There are three things that will endure – faith, hope, and love…”
There seems to be something missing when I look at this list. Why isn’t ‘reasoning’, ‘knowledge’, or ‘understanding’ listed here? I think I’ve valued understanding more than faith, or hope, maybe even love. I need to understand something FIRST; then I’ll do what it says. I’ve always wanted to know the reason why I am asked to do something a certain way; once I understand that, then I have no problems doing it.
But it doesn’t look like God has these things at the top of His priority list. What shortcircuits my faith? Needing to understand everything first. I usually don’t step out in faith unless I understand WHY I have to step out. Sometimes what I think I’m supposed to walk out in faith doesn’t make any sense to me, so I don’t do it. But that’s disobedience! God doesn’t tell us that we need to have it all figured out in our heads before we can follow Him. Jesus said, “Follow me.” He didn’t explain everything to His disciples first.
In our society, understanding and knowledge are held very high. As a church, have we taken on these values and devalued the aspects of faith, and hope, and maybe even love, because reasoning and understanding seem more important to us?