6 Biblical Principles of Martin Luther King JrНамуна

READING

In today’s passage of Scripture, Paul describes a process for growing hope: suffering produces perseverance, which produces character, which produces hope. Suffering, perseverance, character, hope.

But why does hope matter? Isn’t hope just wishful thinking? Is it really worth the pain of suffering? Is it worth the work of perseverance? Isn’t it just an airy expression of what we’d like to have happen?

For the Christian, hope is the confident expectation that God will do what he said he would do.

Hope was the fuel that drove the Israelites across the desert and into the promised land. Likewise, hope is what led Dr. King and other civil rights leaders to persevere against oppression and death threats. And hope will see you through your darkest days too.

Hope is a salve for the pain of betrayal. It helps you see the new day coming.

Hope is light in the darkness of terminal illness because it shines from heaven.

Hope in Christ’s love and forgiveness is what leads you to pray over and over when you’re stuck in habitual sin. Hope reminds you that Jesus will not forsake you.

But hope doesn’t come from nothing. It is grown in us through the process Paul described—suffering, perseverance, character, hope—and it begins with suffering. Are you in a season of suffering?

Wherever you are on this continuum, renew your hope in God today. Wait with confidence that God will work in your life as he said he would. Expect God to guide you through the desert you’re wandering in. As Paul wrote, “boast in the hope of the glory of God” (v.2).

REFLECTION

Do you think about hope much? What role does hope play in your daily life?

Search for Dr. King’s “Mountaintop Speech” online. Read it and consider how hope drove him.

Memorize Romans 5:3-4 and let a biblical definition of hope mark your life.

PRAYER

Dear God, I long to have hope mark my life. I pray that you’ll guide me through this process every time I suffer, so that I may become a person of hope. Thank you for your Spirit’s work in my life. Amen.