Hope Is Where The Heart Is
One thing I love about kids is how hopeful they are. Think about Christmas. They hope to see Santa. They hope there are piles of presents under the tree. They are so excited and hopeful they can hardly sleep! The adults just hope they are going to have enough money to pay for it. The adults just hope that everyone gets along this year. See the difference?
Both have hope, but one is positive and has great expectation. One is alive and exuberant, the other is deflated. It is almost like the glass is half empty for us adults. We have lost the wonder of living. What we need is to get that child-like wonder back. How do we do that? What happened to our hope along the way?
Principle 1. Hope and joy are related. If you want to have more joy, allow yourself to have more hope.
Principle 2. Hope sustains us through difficult times. It is the ability to take one more step forward when you don’t feel like it. Don’t lose that. Hold on to it. Embrace it. Keep hope alive.
Principle 3. Hope is where the heart is. Protect your heart. It is a tender thing, and yet a powerful thing. Guard it as you would a great treasure, because it is one.
Principle 4. Hope is the father of faith. When you start to believe you receive.
Principle 5. Faith, hope, and love endure….but the greatest of these is love. Don’t lose sight of the priorities. It is important to hold on to your faith and your hope, but never lose love.
Pretty clear, isn’t it? We were born with it, but many of us have simply lost it. Maybe you are full of hope, but there are people around you that you know that are at the end of their rope. Be the one to extend the hand of hope to them when they need it. We all need to be reminded from time to time that hope endures.
Here is hoping you give yourself and others the blessing of hope today.
Shalom!
Dan Skognes