These Three Things: The Eternal Importance of Faith, Hope, and Love

Welcome guest blogger, Amy Parker!

“But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 HCSB).

From those seven words, the book How Big Is Love? was born.

But later, as I read that verse in context: “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love,” something struck me. Who knows how many times I had read those words before? But this time, I was urged to dig deeper.

“These three remain.” What exactly did that mean?

The NASB says, “Faith, hope, and love, abide these three.” The NLT translates, “Three things will last forever . . .” And I realized then—as a mom, as a children’s author—if these are the three things that “remain,” that “abide,” that “last forever,” shouldn’t these be the three things our children learn first and foremost? Even above colors or numbers or letters, these three things will be carried into eternity. These are not things simply to teach to their minds; these are things that we need to impart to their souls.

With that realization, my job as a mom and an author grew infinitely more important. And so I began.

With simple questions, asked by curious children and answered by loving parents, these three books give little ones a safe place to explore these three things that they’ll carry with them throughout eternity.

“Mama?” Little One whispered. “Where do you find faith? Is it far, far away?”

“Papa?” Little One asked. “How high does hope go?”

“Mama?” Little One asked through a yawn. “How big is love?”

I am not a perfect parent. (Oh me. SO not.) I am so very not a perfect author. But I do know that I got this right.

These three things: this is where we begin.

With these three things, we lay the foundation for everything else—our relationship with God, perseverance through this crazy world, and how to treat everyone we’ll encounter along the way. Everything in this world and the wonderful world that awaits comes down to these three things.

Faith. Hope. Love.

These three things remain . . . abide . . . last forever.

Let’s start there.

Amy Parker has written more than twenty books for children, teens, and adults including My Christmas List, the best-selling A Night Night Prayer, and two Christian Retailing’s Best award winners. Amy and her husband have two children.