Yesterday I wrote about Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols. Each song is a testimony to the Savior. Each song is a testimony to hope.
Too frequently we (the world) misunderstand the concept of hope. We say, "I hope to be a better person." Or, "I have hope that the world can be kinder in the new year." Or some such thing.
It's fine to hope for these things. But real hope, true hope, lies in the Savior. For, without Him, hope is as futile as my trying to change myself. I am powerless to do that. I am powerless in even wanting to do that if I insist upon doing it on my own.
This I know for sure: real hope comes when we forsake our arrogance and accept our own powerlessness. Real hope will always lie in the Savior.
Hope can be both a noun and a verb. In it's current usage as a verb, it mocks itself. Too often when people say that they "hope" for something, what they really mean is, "I have a vague desire for this, but not enough to define it well and do anything about it, especially not enough to let the Savior help." That use of the word hope makes me a little nauseous. It becomes nothing more than a platitude. True hope is a beautiful gift from God (noun form). It is also something we exercise. Like so many gifts from God, I have been given it to use it. I was given a body so I could use it in righteous ways (including, unfortunately, exercise). I was given the light of Christ, and likewise, I need to exercise that gift by following that light. I was given other gifts that were meant to help refine me and bless others. If I hide them under a bushel, I am not exercising them. I was given a gift of faith, and it was not meant to be put on a shelf and dusted. Likewise charity. I have found that the only way I remain possessed of it is to use it.
ReplyDeleteBut how do I really feel?