Think on These Things: Positive thoughts in a negative world…
1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us hope is one of the big three Christian principles: faith, hope, and love. Just as faith and love are important in our Christian journey, so is hope.
When the world thinks of hope they usually associate it with wishful thinking. Those who don’t have much money hope to win the lottery. Some who want success hope their ships will come in. However, hope from a spiritual perspective is not wishful thinking.
The Old Testament word for hope is “yachal” which means to wait, be patient. The Greek word for hope in the New Testament is “elpis” which means favorable and confident expectation. So when we are hopeful, we aren’t just waiting. We are confident our wait will reap positive results.
Believe it or not, hope is as necessary to the human spirit as oxygen is to the physical body. When we lose hope we are overcome with despair and lack of purpose. Without hope we lose all desire to go on. Our problems overwhelm us. Not having hope can literally destroy our lives.
Hope can save us from despair, but it is not something we can see with the human eye (Romans 8:24-25). The only way we see hope is through those who live it. In other words, hope is not held in our hands, only in our hearts.
Hope is not something that magically appears. It comes from Christ living in us (Colossians 1:27). Christ is our hope (1 Timothy 1:1). Our hope is connected with our relationship with God.
Without hope, our lives are joyless and full of despair. Without hope, our endurance dwindles and we feel like we can’t go on. There is a lot of pain, tragedy, trauma, and suffering in this world and those without Christ in their lives feel everything is hopeless (Ephesians 2:12). They don’t understand that problems in this world are only temporary. God says even death is temporary, so He doesn’t want us to sorrow like people who have no hope (I Thessalonians 4:13).
Those who have Christ living in them do not need to feel hopeless. When Jesus died and was resurrected, we were begotten into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3-5). We have an inheritance that will not fade away. Our hope is blessed assurance that everything God has told us is true. We know salvation is a done deal. We don’t have to wonder about it. We don’t have to doubt it. We can be confident about that! Everything God promised us is true and God cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
The Bible describes hope as a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:18-19). What does an anchor do? When a boat drifts a little this way or that way, the anchor tugs it back and keeps it centered. Hope keeps us centered on God so we don’t drift away. Hope is vital to the Christian life.
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“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” ~Romans 15:13
