Hope

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J.M.J.

(Fun fact: I wear this ring often. It's from Shopko but they don't sell it anymore, in case you wondered).

Recently, one of my readers asked me to write about this topic:

"Is hope something that we will or is it a fruit of the things we choose to believe in?"

Is that deep enough for you? Okay, let's dive in.

What is hope? Well, I think of it as that virtue which allows us to look forward to something that isn't here yet. It may never come, but we desire it to, and we believe, at least to some degree, that it might.

I think that sometimes hope is a conscious act of the will. We want to believe something, so we do.

At other times, I think that hope is a virtue and a fruit of the things we choose to believe in, like God. He gives us hope for our eternal destiny (heaven). 

Isn't that cool? 

It's easy to get discouraged in this life. The opposite of hope is despair, and to allow yourself to wallow in such a state of being is unhealthy. In the words of Marilla Cuthbert in the beloved Anne of Green Gables movie: "To despair is to turn your back on God." When you hope, you're turning back towards God on the path He wants for you!

Will you choose hope, or will you choose to turn your back on God? I hope that you'll place your hope in Him and His marvelous plan for your life.

God bless you!
Stephanie