By: Justin Dillenschneider, Director of Student Life
Week of April 4th, 2022
Hope can be defined as the desire for something to happen or be true, and usually with a good reason to think that it might. Many times when we think of hope, we really are more closely imagining wishful thinking or blind wishing rather than a biblical view of hope. The Bible describes hope as something characterized by faith in what is unseen but surely promised. God asks us to hope in Him alone, not in circumstances, things, or in other people. We can put our hope in God because he has proven Himself faithful to every generation and to all of His creation. He created all things, sustains all things, and will redeem all things in heaven and earth made new. This is the joy and hope that captivates the imaginations of Christian authors, poets, scientists, and more of every tribe and every tongue. We hope with assurance because of what God has already done; knowing that He will accomplish His good works that He has begun.
Continue contemplating hope by looking at this week’s scripture reading from:
Romans 5:1-5 CSB
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
We want to encourage you to have a conversation this week about the virtue of hope.
Consider these discussion prompts together:
- What tempts you to fall into pessimism?
- Where have you seen people fall into naivety? Where are you tempted to do so?
- What are some ways you see Christ correcting pessimistic or naive behavior in people in Scripture?
- How do we see the apostles and the early church modeling and celebrating hope in their words and actions?