The word “hope” is used frequently in our language with different meanings. We might hope it rains, hope our team wins on Friday night, hope that we get a call back from the job we applied for, and hope that we will go to heaven when we die. I have heard each of these uses many times in my life.

Sometimes when we use the word “hope,” we mean that we would simply like for something to happen. We are really saying that we think it would be convenient if it happened. Other times our “hoping” something will happen is more of a strong desire.

We could go on living if it didn’t happen, but life would be much better if it did. And other times, our “hope” is life-critical (or after-life critical in the context of heaven and hell).

While these are all proper uses for the term, that is not the kind of hope we are talking about here. The hope we need is not something we can do or achieve but what we can have or receive.

When we talk about the intangible concept of the hope that we have in Christ, we are referring to a noun, not a verb. As insignificant as that might seem, remembering that hope is a “thing” that is given to us and not a thing we can muster up or do makes all the difference.

For example, Paul told Timothy that we have our “hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe” ( His life goal is to serve God and His Church by reaching the lost with the gospel, making devoted disciples, equipping and empowering others to go further in their faith and calling, and leading a culture of multiplication for the glory of God. Find out more about him here.