4 Ways to Bring Hope To Those Around You…..
First, you can help them understand the Good News of Jesus. What is that Good News that Jesus brought? Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (God’s way of living), and all these things will be given to you as well.” Jesus is talking to people who believe in God, but their lives are consumed with the same stuff everyone else’s lives are consumed with: “What are we going to eat, what are we going to drink…” We need to help people who believe in God and those who do not to understand that the kingdom of God is here! Repent and be baptized! There is a way to live life that will bring long lasting hope rather than temporary entertainment. That way is Jesus.
Second, we can help them to overcome the temporary struggles and obstacles to living the way Jesus leads. We can overcome because salvation isn’t something that happens when you die. After all, what is heaven? Heaven is living with God. When you became a Christian, was that not the moment you began living with God? Of course! So why do we often think we need to die and go to heaven? We are in heaven right now when we experience the peace, hope, and joy in our life living with Christ Jesus. We need to overcome our human nature, our sinful thought, and our temporary vision and see that God’s kingdom is with us.
Third, we can prepare people to be used by God. There is nothing greater than being used by the creator of the universe to redeem his creation. The most frequent way that God uses his people is by telling God’s story through the experiences of life. Life has brought us all through the ups and downs. What better way to express the ‘praiseworthy deeds of the Lord’ (psalm 78:4) than by sharing how God brought you to and through that life experience. When people hear the ‘praiseworthy deeds of the Lord’, the logical outcome is for them ‘to put their trust in God and not forget his deeds but would keep his commands’. (Psalm 78:7) Being prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15) not only brings hope to your life, but to those who hear as well.
Last, but certainly not least, we can bring hope to those around us by having good looking feet. What? Yup, it is true. Romans 10 13-15 says this, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Paul new that people would not call on the name of the Lord in isolation. So he asked a series of questions to help us to understand how people will call on the name of the Lord. “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?” So, what does this have to do with having good looking feet? Paul uses that as an analogy when he states in verse 15, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” When we feel sent to people to tell them that the Kingdom of God is here, we give them the opportunity to call on the name of the Lord. Again, we rise in our hope and so do those who hear us.
There you have it. Four ways to bring hope to those around you. If you are struggling with hope yourself, time to pick one and get active.
Peace,
Brad Schelling
