Formation of Our Hope
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข How do you usually respond when faced with hardship? What is something you find yourself saying or doing?ย
โข What would you say is the most dangerous experience you have ever had? What danger did you face, and how were you spared?ย
โข Recall one significant life experience that formed you into who you are today.ย
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด.ย ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฑ:๐ญโ๐ฑ
(Read also ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฑ:๐ฒโ๐ญ๐ญ.)
Our standing before God is because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. The apostle Paul says that we have been justified by faith. This is the starting point of any believerโs life, and it affects everything else we do and are forever.ย
Because of Christ, we can also have peace with God. In our world today, peace can be a point of tension. Itโs hard to live in peace with others, with ourselves, and with God, and remain hopeful in life. This is only possible because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Today, we will look at the implications of our justification, our peace, and our hope in God.
๐ญ. ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฑ:๐ญโ๐ฎ
Because of the peace we have in God, we can look forward to the future with hope. We can be trained to look to God and His glory, not our current circumstances and challenges. When Christ returns in His glory, God will also glorify us with Him. We will be made perfect and receive eternal life in Godโs presence. Before you were a follower of Christ, how did you view the future? How did this change?ย
๐ฎ. ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ . . .ย ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฑ:๐ฏโ๐ฐ
The apostle Paul says that we are not only to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. In fact, we are also to rejoice in our sufferings. While we would all want to avoid suffering, it produces much in our lives: endurance (or perseverance and grit), godly character, and hope. God does not just want us to endure sufferingโHe wants us to rejoice in it. God does not want us to just get through lifeโHe wants our character to grow through it. Why do you think the end result of suffering is hope? How have you seen that in believers around you?ย
๐ฏ. ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ.
. . . ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด. ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฑ:๐ฑ
Our hope in God is formed as we endure and grow. This hope does not put us to shame. This is a powerful declaration of who God is and how He works in our lives. If we hope in other people or things, we may be put to shame. But not with GodโHe has given us His love and will not put us to shame. The Holy Spirit is in us who believe, affirming Godโs love for us and serving as a guarantee that God will indeed fulfill His promises. How do you think this should transform our outlook on life? How should it affect our worldviews, words, and actions?ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข How is God using suffering and endurance to develop your character and build your hope in Him? Reflect on what He has allowed you to experience and what He is teaching you through it.ย
โข Do you believe that your hope in God will not put you to shame? How can your hope be based on Christ and nothing else?ย
โข Reach out to a friend or family member who is going through suffering. Pray for this person to grow in character and hope and to rejoice even in the midst of suffering. Commit to encourage him or her in the next few weeks.ย
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for how He divinely works in our lives to make us more like Christ. Surrender your situations and challenges today and ask Him to form hope in you.ย
โข Pray for endurance, perseverance, and grit. Pray that you will not easily give up, that you will grow in your character, and that you would make Him known wherever you go.ย
โข This week, reflect on Romans 5:3โ4. Pray that you would fully believe that your hope in God will not put you to shame. Declare your hope in Him above all else.