Is kindness real? Can you touch kindness? Can you hear it or smell it? You can see an act of kindness, but you’re not really seeing the kindness itself, just an outward expression of an otherwise invisible character trait.

What about joy? Is joy real? You may see someone so filled with it that they jump up and down and shout, but those are only behaviors we may exhibit when we are joyful.

Is anything more real to you than the love you have for others, your spouse, children and especially grandchildren? You know just how real it is, but could you actually show me your love for your family if I asked?

It is worth considering that the most important “things” in life, are not things that are a part of the physical world.

You can gaze into the night sky and see all the wonders of heaven that are visible to the naked eye, and know that as vast and great as they all are, they will one day cease to exist. But you won’t. You are a spirit, just as God is a spirit. You are aware of the stars, but they are not capable of being aware of you.

Your love, your joy, your peace and all of the other blessings of God that truly make life worth living are not of this world, but of God and his world. These “best” things, are what you can take with you when you leave. Perhaps this at least partially explains why Jesus taught us to lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven where the decay of this world cannot touch it. Perhaps these Godly traits lived out in our lives through our faith are the basis of all those stored heavenly treasures. God made the stars to last for a little while, but he made you to last forever.

Faith. That’s it, that’s the one invisible trait that is most real. It is the basis for keeping all the rest and of our salvation itself. Guard it. Feed it. Live it. The day will come when we realize that nothing is more real and more valuable than that.

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”