What does HOPE mean to you?
I spoke to a local Rotary Club last week. After my talk a man walked up and asked an interesting question: Where do you think hope comes from?
I told him that my hope comes from God. He said, “Well, yeah, but what does that really mean?”
Not a bad question, huh?
I speak and write a lot about hope. However, in my mind, hope isn’t really an isolated notion.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
I define hope as expectation rooted in faith. Hope, to me, flows from the confidence found in Romans 8:28:
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
And all of this has eternal meaning because of the powerful promise stated in Romans 8:38-39:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So I believe hope rests on faith, while faith rests on the eternal promise of God’s love. In this life the three seem completely intertwined. It’s difficult to imagine one without the others.
But someday, when I stand in God’s presence, I’ll be surrounded by perfect love. Here’ll be no more need for faith or hope—it’ll all just be love. Maybe that’s why Paul wrote, “But the greatest of these is love.”
That’s how I think about hope. Probably a little too simple, not theologically profound enough.
I’m okay with that.
What’s your take on the interwoven nature of faith, hope, and love?
You can leave a comment here.
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