But now we know that love is also the inevitable outworking of faith. So now we also know how to be plugged into the power of God and become loving people. It is by faith. Let me close with two examples of how faith works itself out in love. Try to rid yourself of the idea that faith is merely the act of acknowledging Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Faith has to do with the future.
You have faith when you believe that what God promised for today will come true today and that what God promised for tomorrow and for eternity will come true. This is the kind of faith which will always work itself out in love. The author reminds the readers of how they once loved each other and what it was that motivated them to do it. But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. They loved them.