Part of our calling as Christian disciples is to be people of hope. Consider Romans 15:13:
"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."
Hope, the opposite of despair, is something God bestows on us via the Holy Spirit. It is one of three great "theological virtues" the Apostle Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 13:13 and 1 Thessalonians 5:8.
As believers, we can live in hope because we know that God is for us not against us, and that He is steadily advancing His kingdom day after day.
To be sure, life is filled with challenges, disappointments, tragedies, and tumults. But through it all, we can "overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
A prayer of hope for 2024
Here's a short prayer that is fitting for the start of a new year.
Father God, you have put us here to touch others with a message of profound hope — the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Help us live in the power of the Holy Spirit with such a full measure of joy and peace that our hope overflows to those without hope in the world.
When someone asks about the reason for the hope we have, may we always be prepared to give an answer that points to Jesus Christ, your son our Lord — the One who made even the grave a place of hope. Amen.
