Romans 12:12– Hope gives life!

…rejoicing in expectation, enduring affliction, persevering in prayer…

The list of observations of what agapé love is and how it expresses itself shows much overlap with 1 Corinthians 13. There we read “is expecting all”. Paul can write it that way because agape is God’s love. She always has hope and expectation. Not out of blind or naive optimism, but because by definition there are no hopeless cases with God.

He who has hope expects the good for the future and that is precisely what gives life today so much joy. Because hope gives life. In Titus 2:13 Paul speaks of “the happy expectation” because hope itself is happy but also makes you happy!

A first fruit of rejoicing in hope is that it gives strength to endure affliction. Coming under pressure is inevitable and normal for a believer’s position in this world (John 16:33). What matters is to endure this pressure, i.e. to endure it and not to succumb to it. The word for “endure” (in Greek: hupo-meno) is composed of the words for “under” and “to remain.” It means: being under pressure and yet not giving way but staying. The joy of hope even causes boasting in tribulation (Rom.5:2,3)!

Delen: