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Truths observed at the intersection of faith and life by Crosswalk.com editors Crosswalk: The Devoti
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Truths observed at the intersection of faith and life by Crosswalk.com editors [Crosswalk.com Logo]( Crosswalk: The Devotional [Devotionals]( [Newsletters]( [e-Cards](
Inoculated with [Faith](
by Shawn McEvoy So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love ([1 Corinthians 13:13](. I remember the morning following the 2012 presidential election, I found myself musing peacefully about what's important in life. I was finding out, through realizing how little the outcome affected me, how little stock I'd had in the result personally. I was neither dancing in the streets nor cursing the fates like several friends and acquaintances. How was that? Apathy? Ignorance? Internal focus? Eternal security? Just a really easy morning sending the kids off to school? Then it hit me. It was the [theological virtues](. I began to compose what became a Facebook status: "...I do find Faith and Hope such interesting concepts. They're so powerful. They allow so many to get on with their lives. They inform our decisions and give us empathy for others. They point us towards purpose, toward wrongs to be righted and away from what would harm us. They seem to be in short supply sometimes, even among those who proclaim them while venting frustrations and fears they'd not utter to your face, but they shine brightest in tough times if you let them. And they're most famously tied to Love. They are still here this day, even if it doesn't sound like it, for they are the virtues that 'abide.' "So I ask regardless of political persuasion: Do you have Faith to loan to the one today who has lost his, or placed it in something temporal and disappointing? Can you spare Hope for one who doesn't understand that Despair is the only place hope functions? "These virtues are superior inoculations against whatever goes on around us, the very infusions that make possible a mission of bringing joy, mercy and laughter into the world every day, that elevate 'I can endure all things' above a mere platitude. They task one with a job that'll get you up in the morning, any morning. They bring to our eyes opportunity: chances for justice and charity, and the exercise of freedom. And, good news for me, Faith-Hope-Love is beautifying, for I can think of none who ever saw the application of these virtues - call it Grace - in action and said, 'Ugly.'" It wasn't long before I was tasked with the charge I had just set before others. A forlorn friend messaged me. "I honestly need [prayer](. I am sincerely requesting it. I do not feel love, I do not feel any desire to "get past it and heal and show love more now than ever." ...I am disheartened to the point of despair. ...I don't want to feel this way but I do. And it's been getting worse all day. Please pray for me. ...Considering your FB post earlier, I came to you with my request because I thought that at the least you'd understand." After a moment of prayer I responded: "I have already been praying for you ever since waking early and noting that you were 'heart sick.' It can start to feel like a lonely place but you are not alone. I won't try to talk you off the ledge politically because the timing's not right and there's no point in anyone else's opinion when what's killing you and eating at you so bad is how 'uninformed and wrong' all the opinions out there seem to you. I only hope you can get to the bottom of why it gets to you so bad. "In microcosm, it reminds me of a HORRIBLE flight to Newark I shared with two of my co-workers back in April. I was convinced that nasty flight was going down. I even posted ugly things about it publicly. I was SO MAD that while I was holding on for dear life while the plane bounced (yes, bounced!) around the sky, none of the other passengers seemed to mind. At least not much. I wanted to scream, 'Come on, people! This isn't right! Why did they put us on this plane in these conditions, and why are you taking this jostling?' [CONTINUE READING →](
You May Also Like: [7 Ways Praying Together Strengthens a Coupleâs Marriage]( Lynette Kittle What if prayerlessness as a couple in marriage is a ploy of the enemy to weaken and interfere with the benefits a husband and wife experience together and in their family, when they pray together? With a willingness and commitment to fortify our relationships, here are seven ways we can strengthen our marriages through praying together. [CONTINUE READING →](
[Should Christians Hug in Church?]( Paula Marsteller Should you hug that guy or not hug him? Is a front hug or a side hug more appropriate? [CONTINUE READING →]( [Crosswalk.com Logo]( [Read about Salem Web Network]( | [Unsubscribe From This Email](
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