“PEACE, FAITH, LOVE, HOPE”
Today, we will begin our lesson with a short video about a poem on Peace, Faith, Love and Hope, titled “The Four Candles”.
If you would like to view this video, go to www:youtube.com, then do a search for “The Four Candles”. It should be the first video to come up, by Agape Phil-Am Ministry.
As you can see from the video, I will be talking today, about these four virtues.
The Bible has a great deal of teaching on each of these four words, but I will cover each one only briefly, due to the time element.
These four virtues are bestowed upon human beings to help individuals grow in their relationship with God.
we will look at Peace.
Our world is full of violence and our daily lives can be marred by conflict and turmoil. But God promises His people a peace that surpasses all understanding. First, let’s look at the Biblical concept of which means be or be
Peace, whether we’re referring to war or the peace within us, is what we all strive for.
Finding true peace only comes from one place, and that is God.
says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
In we also see, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace”—we will encounter hardships throughout all our lives. Whether we are christians or not, there will be times when we struggle to find peace and contentment. When that happens, you must turn to God. You will only find the answer through Him and within yourself—no one else can give it to you. If you pray for peace, then God will help you find it. With God, you won’t be alone in life. The anxiety, the nervousness, and the fear will fade away.
says, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him”.
takes me back to one of my favorite verses in the Bible.
“Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is often thought of as something that requires blind trust because no evidence exists to confirm it. Corinthians tells us, “For we walk by faith, not by sight”. The Bible also tells us in “So without we could not come to believe in God or walk in obedience to Him.”
Remember Doubting Thomas: In Jesus tells us
“Blessed are they that have not seen, yet have believed”.
Faith is therefore, “the belief in God, and in the truth of His revelation”, as well as obedience to Him.
This is a supernatural virtue that helps us love God and our neighbors, more than ourselves.
The Bible is full of great verses and passages about the topic of love. God’s love for us is a perfect example and starting place to study on love. The Bible describes true love as being self-sacrificing, rather than self-seeking. True love is appropriately defined in one of the Bible’s most famous passages. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.
Why is love considered the greatest of these? Because without love, there would be no “redemption”. God is love. John says, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love”.
Jesus knew that love was so great, it could move mountains. The whole Chapter 4 of speaks of love. When God sent His son Jesus Christ to die for to sacrifice His life for this is the epitome of
Thus love is the virtue upon which all our Peace, Faith, and Hope now stand. tells us of the two great commandments in the New Testament. The first and greatest commandment deals with our relationship with God. The other deals with our relationship with other people.
can best describe Hope as expectation of and desire of receiving; or refraining from despair and capability of not giving up.
Biblically, we could say that it is the belief that God will be eternally present in every human’s life and never giving up on His love. Hope keeps us moving forward. I cannot imagine my life without Hope. Hope fuels us to face impossible challenges. Hope is the expectation that we will obtain what we desire. Hope is a special gift from God in the day to day monotony and in the middle of difficult circumstances. Hope encourages us to keep running the race until we reach the finish line.
Along with Peace, Faith, and Love, Hope is an enduring virtue of the christian life Corinthians and Love springs from Hope Hope produces joy and peace in believers through the power of the spirit
We could not live our lives without Faith, Hope or Love. Without Faith, we could not know the God of Love. Without Hope, we would not endure in our Faith until we meet God face to face.
So, going back to my short video—if we keep Hope in our lives and keep the candle burning, we can always re-light the others—Peace, Faith and Love.