We Need It: Hope

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Why do Christians have hope?

Hope is an eternal element of our relationship with God. We have hope in God’s unfailing love, in our eternal life, and in Christ’s power at work within us. In fact, we have hope in God’s ability to do the seemingly impossible.

What produces hope in us? 

Hope begins the moment we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior, but we also grow in hope. Suffering and perseverance produce hope and help us find joy in our suffering.

Reading the Bible also produces hope in us.

How does hope help us?

Hope is compared to a helmet protecting our mind. It helps us overcome discouragement and inspires us to seek purity. It also makes us alert and ready for whatever life dishes out. 

While many reject the truth and embrace cultural lies, we stand firm in hope because we know Christ is faithful. If we have hope, we’ll never be ashamed!

💙Beyond 1-minute for those who want more:

Please read through the hope-filled Scriptures below. Why not memorize one this week?

Why we have hope 

1 Corinthians 13:13: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 

Note: See also the description of love which "always hopes" (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Psalm 147:11: "The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love."

Acts 2:26-27: "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay."  

Colossians 1:25-27: "I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."  

Ephesians 1:18-19: "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe."

Romans 4:18: "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.'"

What hope produces in us

1 Thessalonians 1:3: "We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Romans 5:1-5: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."  

Romans 12:12: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." 

Psalm 119:74: "May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word."

Romans 15:4: "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope."

How hope helps us

1 Thessalonians 5:8: "But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet." 

Note: In Ephesians 6:17, the helmet of salvation is described. This isn’t contradictory because we have hope in our salvation and this hope protects our thoughts and our minds in Christ. 

Psalm 42:5: "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."   

1 John 3:3: "All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure."  

1 Peter 1:13: "Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming."  

Psalm 25:3: "No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause." 

Standing firm in hope

Romans 8:24: "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?"

Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

Hebrews 10:23: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

Titus 2:11-14: "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

Bible Love Notes