Episode 4: The Greatest of These is Love

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What makes faith, hope, and love so powerful? Are they just nice religious concepts, or something more transformative? In this episode, we break down the Apostle Paul's famous "ultimate trio" from 1 Corinthians 13:13 and discover why they're genuine game-changers when properly understood.

Faith isn't about floating around in robes - it's intensely practical. It's the trust that allows you to sit in a chair without inspecting it first or order food from a new restaurant believing it won't send you to the ER. Spiritual faith works similarly but addresses our deeper questions about meaning and purpose. Hope isn't naive optimism but the resilient belief that setbacks aren't the end of your story. And love? Not the Hollywood version that comes and goes with feelings, but the kind that sees people at their worst and chooses to stay anyway.

The magic happens when these three work together. Faith without hope becomes mere stubbornness with a Bible verse attached. Hope without love is just wishful thinking. Love without faith lacks foundation. But when all three operate in harmony? You can face anything, dream about everything, and love through everything. It's like building IKEA furniture - faith believes the instructions make sense, hope thinks you'll finish before midnight, and love prevents you from throwing the Allen wrench at your partner when they suggest you're doing it wrong.

Why does Paul crown love as the greatest? Because while faith and hope are forward-looking and temporary, love operates right now, in this moment, with whoever is in front of you. When faith and hope are no longer needed because we can see clearly, love will still remain. Love is both the means and the end - it's what makes everything else worthwhile.

Ready to experience how these three principles can transform your everyday life? Listen now, and discover why faith, hope, and love remain the ultimate trio for navigating our complex world.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yo, what's good?
Faithful foxes, your boy,justin.
Here and today, we're talkingabout the ultimate trio.
And no, I'm not talking aboutBeyonce, jay-z and their
accountant.
I'm talking about something waymore fire than that.
We're diving into what theApostle Paul called the Big
Three Faith, hope and love.
And, spoiler alert, one of themis the clear MVP.

(00:22):
But here's the thing thesearen't just fancy church words
that look good on coffee mugs.
These three are straight uplife changers, game changers and
mood changers.
Basically, they'll changeeverything if you let them.
So buckle up, because we'reabout to get real about why
these three things areabsolutely legendary.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Let's kick it off.
Are sitting.
Yeah, your words give me graceand you're here in this place.
I've been blind by your holylight.
Give me blessings from abovewhen I broadcast.
Welcome to the Faithful Foxpodcast.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Whew, that never gets old, does it?
All?
Right, faithful foxes, we areback and we are talking about 1
Corinthians, chapter 13, verse13.
Today, Now, paul drops thisabsolute banger and now these
three remain Faith, hope andlove.
But the greatest of these islove.

(01:45):
Now, when I first read this Iwas like, okay, cool, paul,
thanks for the ranking system.
But the older I get, the more Irealized this dude wasn't just
throwing out random spiritualrankings.
He was giving us the blueprintfor a life that actually works.
So let's break it down with ourfirst segment, fox Facts.
I summon the very facts that Iam a man.

(02:07):
So first up, we got faith.
Now faith gets a bad rapsometimes because people think
it means you got to be allmystical and float around in
robes or something.
But real talk, faith is waymore practical than that.
Faith is like when you sit downin a chair without inspecting
the structural integrity first.

(02:28):
You just sit.
That's faith, baby.
You're trusting that chair todo its job.
Faith is ordering food from anew restaurant and believing it
won't send you to the ER.
Faith is hitting send on thatimportant email and trusting
your phone didn't autocorrectmeeting to meatball Delicious.
But here's where it gets real.

(02:49):
Spiritual faith is just likethat, but bigger.
It's trusting that there'ssomeone bigger than us who's got
this whole thing figured out,even when we definitely don't.
Then we got hope.
Oh man, hope is like faith'soptimistic cousin who always
shows up to the family reunionwith just good vibes.
Hope is what makes you checkyour bank account after a

(03:11):
shopping spree, thinking maybeit's not that bad.
Hope is why we keep dating appson our phones.
Hope is believing that one day,just maybe, you'll find a
parking spot at Target on aSaturday.
But real hope, biblical hope,that's the kind that says things
might be rough right now, butthis isn't the end of the story.
That's the hope that keeps yougoing when life hits different.

(03:36):
And then there's love, capital Llove.
Not just I love pizza loveThough pizza love is valid, just
going to put that out there butthe kind of love that changes
everything.
Love is what makes you givesomeone the last slice, even
when you're still hungry.
Love is staying up late to helpa friend through their drama,

(03:56):
even though you got work in themorning.
Love is choosing to see thebest in people, even when
they're showing you their worst.
But check this out.
It gets wilder and we'll talkabout in our next segment called
the Trinity of Awesome.
Yes, that's awesome.
Yes, that's awesome.

(04:20):
See, here's what Paulunderstood that we sometimes
miss.
These three don't work solo,they're like a boy band, but
actually good, they're meant towork together.
It's like this Imagine you'retrying to build IKEA furniture.
Faith is believing theinstructions actually make sense
.
Hope is thinking you'll finishbefore midnight.
Love is not throwing the Allenwrench at your partner when they

(04:41):
suggest you might be doing itwrong.
Without all three, you're justgoing to end up with a very
expensive pile of wood and somerelationship issues.
But for real, though, whenthese three team up in your life
, it's incredible.
Faith gives you the foundationto stand on, hope gives you
something to look forward to,and love gives you a reason to

(05:04):
keep going.
Think about it.
What good is faith without hope?
That's just stubbornness with aBible verse attached.
What good is hope without love?
That's just wishful thinking.
What good is love without faith?
That's just feelings thatchange with the weather.
But when you got all threeworking together, man, that's

(05:24):
when life gets interesting.
That's when you can faceanything, dream about everything
and love through everything.
Okay, faithful foxes, it's timeto visit the hypothetical house
.
So let's flip this and see whathappens when one of those goes
missing.

(05:50):
So first scenario life withoutfaith.
Picture this you wake up everymorning and the first thought is
I wonder what's going to gowrong today?
You don't trust anyone.
You don't trust yourself.
You definitely don't trust thatyour car is going to start
today.
You don't trust anyone.
You don't trust yourself.
You definitely don't trust thatyour car is going to start.
You're basically living likeevery day is a final exam you
did not study for.
You'd be that person who readsall the Yelp reviews before
ordering a sandwich, then stillexpects it to be terrible.

(06:10):
That's exhausting y'all.
Now imagine life without hope.
That's like being stuck in aNetflix series that never gets
renewed.
You know how it starts, but yougot no idea where it's going
and, honestly, you're not evensure you care anymore.
Without hope, every setbackfeels permanent, every no feels

(06:33):
final.
Every closed door looks like awall.
That is no way to live, fam.
But life without love, man,that might be the worst one.
That's like having the fanciesthouse on the block but no one
to share it with.
You got everything you thoughtyou wanted, but it all feels
empty.
Without love, success feelshollow, achievements feel

(06:58):
meaningless and relationshipsfeel like transactions.
You're basically living life inairplane mode Everything looks
the same, but nothing reallyconnects.
Which brings us to why Paul saidwhat he said about love being
the greatest, which we'll talkabout in our next segment called
Love Takes the Crown, I loveyou.
Called Love Takes the Crown, Ilove you.

(07:23):
So why does love get the topspot?
Why does Paul say but thegreatest of these is love?
Well, here's the thing Faithand hope are incredible, but
they're both forward-looking.
Faith is about trusting in whatwe can't see yet.
Hope is about believing inwhat's coming, but love Love is
right here, right now, in thismoment.
Love is what makes faith worthhaving.

(07:44):
What good is believing in Godif you don't love God or love
what God loves?
Love is what makes hope worthholding onto forward to tomorrow
.
If you can't love people today.
It's like this.
Faith and hope are thefoundation and the roof, but
love is the whole house.
Love is where life actuallyhappens when someone's going

(08:07):
through their worst day.
They don't need you to haveperfect faith or endless hope,
though those do help.
What they need is for you tolove them right where they are.
What they need is for you tolove them, right where they are.
Love shows up, love stays, lovedoesn't wait for things to get
better.
And here's the kicker Love iseternal.

(08:27):
Paul says that these threeremain, but love, love outlasts
everything else.
When we don't need faithanymore, because we can see
clearly, when we don't need hopeanymore because we're home,
love will still be there.
Love is the point, love is thegoal, love is what makes
everything else worth it.

(08:50):
As we wrap up today, I want youto think about something.
In a world that feels like it'sconstantly trying to tear us
apart, divide us, make us choosesides, we've got these three
things that can hold us togetherFaith that reminds us we're not
alone.
Hope that reminds us this isn'tthe end of the story.
And love, love that reminds uswhy any of this matters at all.

(09:14):
So, as I play this out today, Ijust want you to sit with that
for a minute.
Let these words wash over you.
Let love real love, god's lovefill up all the spaces in your
heart that maybe feel a littleempty.
You know, when Paul wrote aboutfaith, hope and love, he wasn't

(09:38):
just giving us a nice list toput on a greeting card.
He was giving us the secret toa life that matters, a life that
lasts, a life that leaves theworld a little brighter than we
found it.
And love, oh love.
Not the Hollywood version thatcomes and goes with feelings,

(10:01):
not the social media versionthat depends on likes and
comments, but the kind of lovethat sees you at your absolute
worst and chooses to stay anyway.
That's the love God has for youright now, right where you're
sitting, right in the middle ofwhatever you're walking through,

(10:21):
whether you feel like youdeserve it or not, whether you
think you've got it all figuredout or you are completely lost.
You are loved with a love thatwill never give up on you.
Never walk away, never saythat's enough.
Faith, hope and love, but thegreatest of these is love.

(10:46):
Go be loved, faithful foxes,and go be love.
Peace out y'all.