“So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13

Of the three virtues of faith, hope and love, it has been hope which I have struggled with the most recently. All three of these terms have been buried in the shallow “greeting card” culture modern Christianity, and family bookstores, have so eagerly adopted. I have already written on trying to take back a deeper understanding of faith and love, but hope has eluded me. Only has recent experiences given me a fresh perspective on a possible look into the true virtue of hope.

Leaving the Delusion

“Hope” is a word that has been in getting a lot of attention with the last few years of politics, both as a battle cry and as a patronizing insult. Many have become jaded toward the concept of hope since, “what good is hoping for better if you won’t do anything about it?” Hope has become a symbol of delusional thinking.

Hope can easily be a delusion, depending on what we are putting our hopes in. Do we hope we will be richer? Do we hope that “everything will work out” if we just sit and wait? Do we hope that our circumstances will miraculously change? If we are hoping for these things, then we are indeed deceiving ourselves.

What We Should Hope For

“But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.” – Matthew 6:20

Scripture gives us two clear directions for where we should invest our hope. First, we put our heart and our hope in the life to come. This world will never be the ideal place we wish it could be. If people invest all their hopes in this world, they will always be disappointed. Our ultimate hope is that we endure this life with grace and determination knowing the kingdom of God is our true reward.

“for the law brought nothing to perfection; on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.” – Hebrews 7:19

Second, and juxtaposed to the first, we put our hope in the possibility of redemption in this life. No matter the relationship or the person, we are instructed to endure, suffer, and forgive to always keep open the possibility of reconciliation. I believe our deepest darkest moments in life are when we give up on the possibility of redemption either with others or with ourselves. Redemption is the miracle we hope for in this life.

When Hope Reveals God

Expecting a miracle, especially one of our own design, is dangerous. However, when we acknowledge a situation is beyond our control, focus our attention on what we can control, and leave the rest providence we often find in hindsight a divine hand working miraculously toward redemption.