Description
We’ve all heard preachers who extol the necessity of having faith make disparaging comments about hope like “If you’re just hoping for God to do something in your life, you’re gonna be disappointed because the only way you’re gonna get anything form God is through faith!” IN other words, hope has had a pretty “bad rap” over the years. However , the Bible ranks hope right “up there” with faith and love as a cardinal virtue.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Corinthians 13:13
We have seen whole movements in the Body of Christ focused on love (like the Jesus Movement with its ubiquitous “Smile, God loves you” stickers) and others centered around faith ( such as the Word and Faith Movement with its “Believe and receive or doubt and go without” mantra), but perhaps it is time that we turn our attention to hope as well. We often hear the expression “Don’t give up hope” as an encouragement to keep on believing for an answer to a challenging situation. Thinking of this admonition from a different perspective, I say, “Don’t give up hope” – intending to remind the Body of Christ that hope is still a vital component in our Christian experience.
