Every Good Gift: A 28-Day Advent DevotionalSample

We know that the good life that God promises us is one full of hope. But it is important to understand that hope needs to be shared to be received. God made it simple: the good life shares hope and hope creates the good life. The cycle can endlessly continue as long as we remain committed to sharing hope and living the good life God intends for us. 

When we zoom out on our passage from James and look at it in its entirety, we can see that the good life demonstrates hope to the world around us. When we have hope, we do not need to “harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in [our] hearts” (James 3:14) because our life is no longer about us. The good life, as James defines it, is about living in such a way that spreads hope through our actions and validates it through our character.

Eyerusalem is a Survival staff member in Ethiopia, where she helps new mothers and fathers as they welcome their babies into the world and navigate the most critical time of a child’s life. She often encounters the hopelessness of young mothers who believe that rejection, frustration, extreme poverty and hopelessness are their destiny—and the destiny of their children. Eyerusalem understands that an important part of her role is to instill hope, which often happens during the monthly home visits. “Home visits feel like peeling off layer after layer of poverty’s lies to reveal a mother’s true self,” says Eyerusalem.

The time that Eyerusalem spends during home visits is a demonstration of hope. She invites young mothers and fathers into the good life through practical actions such as teaching them how to care for a new baby, providing essential resources to support healthy development and having life-giving conversations that reflect the hope of Christ. One word that Eyerusalem uses to describe the parents who transition out of Compassion’s Survival initiatives when their little ones reach their first birthday? Hopeful.

Prayer: 

Jesus, as I think about the good life you have given me, help me to be a demonstration of the hope You give. Show me where practical actions can give me the proximity to display Your heart to those who need to know the good life that You make possible. Amen.