Faith, Hope, and Love

What is the religious relationship between these three words?

In 1 Corinthians 13, we find what is described as the great love chapter. I quote the chapter here because it is such a beautiful, edifying passage in the Holy Bible.

1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

As you can see, verse 13 identifies love as the greatest of the words; faith, hope, and love. 

There are Christians who unfairly criticize the Holy Quran because it limits who God loves. In the Holy Quran we read, “God loves those who put their trust in Him.” (Quran 3:159) But the Holy Bible also limits God’s love by describing who God hates. “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.  The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” Psalm 5:4-5

So, we see here that, according to both the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran, God does not love everyone.

Yet the Holy Bible also tells us that “God so loved the world.” (John 3:16)  That is God does love everybody.  Is this a contradiction?

Christian leaders say frequently, “God loves the sinner but hates the sin.”  And Muslim leaders say the same thing.  Here are the words of Sahar El-Nadi, “God loves humans but hates their sins.”

Jesus, peace be upon him, underscored the importance of love when he summarized God’s commandments into two, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-4)

An expert in the law asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37)

So, what should Muslims and Christians understand here?

What Jesus described as the Samaritan’s love is a description of compassion.

Love has different meanings.  The love described in 1 Corinthians 13 and Luke 10 is synonymous with the word compassion.  Compassion is a type of selfless love that compels one to help and show kindness to others, whether they deserve it or not.  This is the type of love that God extends to everybody in the form of grace and mercy.  The Holy Quran uses the word compassion when referring to God’s love to all mankind.  So, in this sense, God does love everybody.

The love that God shows to those who submit to Him is more profound.  This love can only exist when there is an intimate relationship between the giver of love and the recipient of that love. Contrasted with this type of love, compassion does not require an intimate relationship.  So, when the Holy Bible tells us in 1 John 4:19, “We love God because He first loved us,” this is a manifestation of the intimate love that exists between God and those of us who have come to submit ourselves to Him.  It describes a mutual love relationship.  So, in this sense, God does not love everybody.

When we experience this Divine intimate love, it compels us to love God intimately as well.

In 1 Corinthians 13:13 we read, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  So, in what sense is love the greatest of these three words?

When God’s compassion produces the more intimate love that is a manifestation of our relationship with Him, it leads us to put our faith in Him and gives us Hope that He will accept us throughout eternity.  After the end of our earthly life, and, when hope becomes certainty, faith will no longer be necessary, but the loving relationship between God and us will persist forever.

God’s intimate love relationship with believers generates in us faith and hope, and these three compel us to obey Him. So, “these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

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