Have you ever noticed that hope is NOT listed in the fruit of the Spirit?

Galatians 5:22-23 NASB  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  (23)  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

I recently heard Annie F. Downs share her thoughts on why hope is not in this list of the fruit of the Spirit.  She said, essentially, that all of these traits are free gifts, given to us as a result of salvation.  We did not earn them.  They are freely given to us as a result of the Holy Spirit who enters the life of every believer at the moment of salvation.  It is this ongoing, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that freely produces these wonderful characteristics (this fruit) in our lives.

But hope is not in that list, because it is different.  She pointed to Romans 5 for the explanation.

Romans 5:3-5 HCSB  And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance,  (4)  endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.  (5)  This hope will not disappoint [or shame] us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Do you see the progression in this passage?  

·         Afflictions produce endurance.

·         Endurance produces proven character.

·         Proven character produces hope.

So, let me summarize what this passage says about hope.  Hope is the result of character which is proven by persevering through affliction.

Hope is not freely given to us.  Instead, hope is discovered and embraced by us in our walk with Jesus through the inevitable afflictions of life.  It is only by persevering through trials that we can truly appreciate the incredible value of the hope that God then gives us as believers.  

And please hear this:  the hope that God gives us is not just to be experienced in our future time in heaven – it is equally for our present time here on earth.

Hope is also accumulative.  As we are comforted by Jesus through an affliction, that experience gives us more hope that we can persevere through the next affliction.  And then following that affliction, we have even greater hope that we can persevere through future afflictions. 

One more thing about the biblical principle of hope.  The Greek word translated as hope in today’s passage from Romans 5 means literally “anticipation, expectation or confidence” (Strong’s Concordance).  So, it is NOT the wishful thinking we often express in everyday life, such as when we say, “I hope it is sunny today” or “I hope my favorite sports team wins tomorrow” or “I hope I see so-and-so today.”  Instead, biblical hope is a confident anticipation and expectation that God will be with us in every situation we face, offering us encouragement, comfort, wisdom, and guidance.

Let me summarize the key points of today’s principle:

·         Hope is the result of character which is proven by persevering through affliction.

·         In our walk with Jesus through these inevitable afflictions of life, we discover and embrace hope.  

·         It is only by persevering through trials that we can truly appreciate the incredible value of the hope that God then gives us as believers.  

·         We can have confident anticipation and expectation that God will be with us in every situation we face, offering us encouragement, comfort, wisdom, and guidance.

·         As we endure afflictions in our walk with Jesus, we accumulate more hope, and are therefore increasingly more confident that we can endure future afflictions.

·         Hope is not merely a futuristic expectation related to heaven, but also a current expectation for our lives now.  

Today, I encourage you to “Reflect on This.”