Greater than Love?

To walk along Jesus' way, His way, takes more than love. It takes faith. Faith is the willingness to let go and walk along Jesus' way. Thus, David G. Benner, Spirituality and the Awakening Self, at 67:

It is striking that for all the emphasis Jesus placed on love, he praised faith even more than love. 'Your faith has saved you,' he tells us in Luke 8:48. Faith transforms us because faith is a readiness to let go and take the next step -- even when it isn't clear where you will be putting your foot down. It is daring to allow yourself to be still and face your inner demons, or step over the edge when nothing but the abyss seems to be below. You no longer need to hold on because you know that Someone is holding on to you!

In this sense, faith is a "yes" that is prior to a "no". In the world of our bodies, the physical world, it is a gesture of trust (not simply an intellectual assent). "No" is all that we are unwilling to leave, but "no" is also the inner lining of the "yes", for the "yes" allows us to say "no," to leave for a better place along the road, along the way of Christ.

And I read recently that the word "belief" is from the old word "lief", which stands for love.  So belief, faith, ultimately derives from love.

And it seems that the faith that Jesus praises also includes love, for isn't it love that motivates the trust that is the inner dynamic of faith?

Listen to "Shepherd Me O God" (Marty Haugen)

Listen to "I'll Walk With God" (Russell Watson)

Listen to "Walking With God"