The following definitions of those great words are offered by Richard J. Foster in Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Formation, which I have just finished reading and which I highly recommend.
Faith is the willingness to trust that God is at work. (p. 192)
Hope...is the refusal to accept the world at face value. (p. 192)
Love is the character of God, the eternal reality into which we are transformed, the great gift that our transformation enables us to give and receive in increasingly deeper measure. (p. 193)
Grace is the activity of God in our lives, the reality of God pouring into us more than we could ever do on our own, the love of God pursuing us, supporting us, changing us, upholding us, uniting us, sending us. (p. 194)
sorry this isn't a direct comment on this post. when did you teach at Belmont? I was there from 89-93 and curious if you were a professor of mine. Sadly, I can't remember names of all my professors but some of my religion classes had profound impact on my life.
ReplyDeleteChristy,
ReplyDeleteI taught at Belmont from Fall 1993-Spring 1999, so we probably just missed each other. Your religion profs were probably either Bell, Byrd, Curtis, Cutrer, Elder, or Simpler, unless you had an adjunct.
Thanks for dropping by and I'll be keeping my eye on your blog.
Blessings,
Mike