Gaetos, James Patrick A.

11-STEM Flexibility
Christian Formation 2 (Activity #2)
April 8, 2024

1. Which passage (from 1 Corinthians 13:1-13) strikes you the most and why?
While the first and the last verse of this passage are something that I considered
as my personal favorites because of its “hard-hitting” message about love, it is
the last verse that struck me the most. Because, let me be honest, the apostle
Paul was correct with his words: “So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the
greatest of these is love.” But in order to fully understand what he’s trying to say
not only to me, but to each one of us, I decided to read the whole chapter. The
thirteenth chapter of his first letter to the people in Corinth (Greece) is arguably
one of the most famous chapters in the Holy Bible, because here, Paul discussed
his views about love—this is where he gave love a much detailed description. As
far as my understanding goes, love is not just an expression, but also an
experience (the experience of being able to, for example, endure all the struggles
and challenges), an important component of living (a component in, for example,
becoming a responsible and grown-up individual), and a duty (a duty of being
kind, trustful, and respectful to others). Love is something that one shouldn’t take
for granted (without love, “I am nothing,” as he said); rather, it is something that
one should consider as an important part in shaping who he/she is
today—religiously, love is one of the central themes in Christianity, as proven
and manifested by many biblical writers (particularly John, one of the Twelve
Disciples, who is famously known for the words “God is love”), saints, and even
Jesus, who Himself stated the two most important commandments, with an
emphasis on love (love your God and love your neighbor). Love is what makes
Christianity not just a religion (like any other religions in the world), but also a
community revolving around love—the love of God through Jesus, who Himself is
the definition of love, and a primary example of love to all believers. But most of
all, love is its greatest message—that message leads us to the greatest event in
Christianity’s history where it is proven that love is the greatest act of service.
And thus, Paul wanted to emphasize the importance of love in living a Christian
life—that love is more than just an ordinary trait. However, while most of us,
including myself, took this message for granted (like, “we’ll, love is definitely
greater than faith and hope”), we failed to realize that, without faith and hope in
Him, in self, and in others, it is impossible for us to express and experience love,
and vice versa. And so with that said, it is therefore important that, as Christians,
we should not separate love from faith and hope, because by loving others and
self, by putting our faith on our own abilities and by putting our hopes on our
 dreams of becoming successful individuals, we are manifesting our love, faith
and hope to God who Himself give us love. But, in order to fully manifest it, we
must experience it, live up to it, and make it a duty to serve God. Because I
believe that love, after all, is not only the greatest gift given to us by God, but is
also the greatest exponent of our faith and hope as Christians, and that will be
possible if we are serious enough to be able to love God, ourselves, and others.
Both love without faith and hope, and vice versa, are dead, lest we do not
take them for granted.

2. Identify an experience of yours that demonstrates the meaning of this

passage.
That experience of mine could be the friendship I have with “brothers” Vaughn,
Sean and Raymond where I could say that this demonstrates the meaning of
what the apostle Paul taught us about love. While love is given a romantic
connotation, the love that the four of us have is a symbol of how we cheer for
each other, of how we care for each other, and of how we managed to survive all
the downfalls and struggles and become better versions of ourselves. But above
all, it is our faith in ourselves, in each other and God that made our friendship
stronger and realize the true essence of love—manifesting by putting our words
into action. In times when, for example, Sean needed my help, I had no second
thoughts and helped him because that’s how I manifest my faith. But it was this
one event that truly challenged our relationship—the faith and the hopes and the
love we have—and that is when the Second Quarterly Examinations happened.
Vaughn nearly lost his faith that he’ll be able to pass the examinations, while I
and Raymond too lost our faith that we’ll be able to remain consistent in our
rankings as honor students. But at the end, because we valued our relationship
and prioritized our faith in God and ourselves (as an important factor that made
our “brotherhood” stronger), we had put our hopes that all of us will be able to
pass the examinations and become honor students. And so, with determination
and the love and faith we had, we’ve finally managed to survive the
examinations. Thankfully, all of us, as the grades had been released, had been
able to pass the Second Quarter (even though Sean cannot be, at the end, an
honor student, yet we still have our hopes and an undying faith that he too will be
able to join us). This event made our friendship stronger than we had in the past.
But more importantly, it is this love we have for each other that strengthens us,
and that is possible thanks to the love we have for God. To this day, we dedicate
our “brotherhood” to God by putting our faith, our hopes, and our manifestations
of love to Him. And for that, I am truly thankful or grateful to God. This experience
taught me that, without having faith and hope, love will never be fully achieved.
Without that love, I cannot be able to endure all the downfalls and to win all
battles. Without that love, I cannot be able to feel a sense of duty—a duty of
maintaining a God-fearing friendship. Without that love, I cannot be able to fully
express my faith and hopes. Without that love, I realized that I am nothing.
That Sean is nothing. That Vaughn is nothing. That Raymond is nothing. That all
of us are nothing.