When Less Is More

When Less Is More

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

Recommended Reading
Romans 5:3-5
"Less" plays a significant role in our lives. On the one hand, it's good to be fearless, ceaseless, ageless, cordless, errorless, guiltless, painless, and odorless. On the other hand, we don't want to be jobless, friendless, homeless, penniless, fruitless, shiftless, spineless, aimless, careless, feckless, or lifeless--especially lifeless! But of all the things we don't want to have less of, none is as important as hope. We definitely need to have less hopelessness.

In Romans 5:3-5 the apostle Paul had a way of explaining why hope is an ultimate value to grasp in life. And how it derives from an unlikely source: tribulations. "Tribulation," he wrote, "produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." When we lose hope in the face of tribulation, it means we have lost sight of God's love that was poured out in our heart. And to lose touch with God's love--to be loveless--is to lose touch with the greatest thing of all (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Hope, then, is a measure of our realization of God's love. Grasp His love today, and you will grasp hope as well!

Christianity knows nothing of hopeless cases.
Alexander Maclaren