2022_04_11 Insight Post- Kim Feld

As Paul wraps up 1 Thessalonians, he again refers to faith, hope, and love. First, let’s look at verse 8:

^8 “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

Paul outlines a complete description of the “armor” we should wear as Christ-followers in Ephesians 6 (see Ephesians 6:10-17), but in his closing in this first letter to the Thessalonians, he focuses on two pieces, the breastplate and the helmet.

The breastplate and helmet were defensive pieces of armor used to protect the wearer’s head and vital internal organs, e.g., the heart. So, how do faith, love, and hope preserve the heart and mind of the believer?

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is having confidence even when we don’t see. The Message says it this way:

“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.”

 Faith in God is our foundation. Even when we don’t see or understand, faith allows us to trust Him.

Hebrews 6:19 tells us that hope is an anchor for our souls. The Message paraphrases this as an “unbreakable spiritual lifeline.” An anchor is something that holds a ship or boat in place. The anchor has a piece called a fluke that digs into the bottom of the body of water, making the vessel immovable. With faith as our foundation, hope allows us to approach our lives with the confidence that God can be trusted to see us through and that what He has promised will happen.

1 Corinthians 16:14 says that we are to do everything in love. 1 Peter 4:8 says that love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Corinthians 13 outlines the attributes of love and how love should dictate the way we interact with others. Love is the glue that holds it all together. We are called to love because we are loved.

Cultivating faith, hope, and love in our lives serve as a defense from our enemy. That doesn’t mean that we are insulated from grief, loss, and pain, but it does mean that we have a God who loves us and is for us in it all.

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach