The Reason For Our Hope

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

1 Peter 3:15

As I’ve traveled the world, I have noted above all else an absence of hope. People are despondent, lacking any sense of purpose or anticipation about the future. I see this hopelessness influence the media, politics, the arts, people’s personal finances, and society at large. But as followers of Christ, it doesn’t have to influence us.

Christians live according to a different set of principles from those who don’t know Christ: we have hope. No matter how bleak international affairs, national headlines, local news, or our family lives may be, we can hold on to Jesus and the hope of healing and heaven that He made possible. He is a secure and eternal anchor for our souls. If our ultimate hope were in people or anything this world offers, we would be drifting and lost. But our hope is in Jesus Christ, who triumphed over sin and death.

Jesus came to change the hopeless state of the world! That’s why Peter tells us to be prepared to share Him with the parched souls who cross our path. As we lead them closer to our Lord, hopelessness falls away.

Lord, thank You for the eternal hope You bring. Please help me always be ready with Your name—Jesus!—when people ask me about the hope I have.