Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Faith and Hope

carlomalbas 9/18/2012 08:48:00 PM No comments :

We might be having some confusion on how to differentiate such two words. I admit that I had the same situation before I became a believer. I used to combine these two words and stating they have the same nature. But as I progress to study His words, it reveals to me slowly that they are indeed different but their goals and purposes are the. We can also identify them as two sides of a coin. It is also a good timing to better understand this since I'll be discussing this topic in our small group tomorrow. One most notable context that I read before in a book (sorry, I forgot the author) was the detailed differences of these two words; I remember it because I used an acronym to memorize it. So let's call it the FESOS list:
  • Functionality - Faith states what is to be done; it gives direction and descriptions and teaches us. Hope conditions our mind to be strong and courageous.
  • Effect - Faith is a judge, it judges errors while Hope is the soldier which fight against adversities, despair and waits for better things
  • Sources - Faith comes from understanding while Hope rises in the will.
  • Objective - Faith concentrates on the truth. Hope looks to the goodness of God.
  • Sequence - Faith is the beginning of life before suffering while Hope comes later and is born of great trouble.
We must remember that hope without faith is like taking an exam without reviewing and we are wishing that we will pass it. There should be knowledge first to better understand the hope that we have. As a Christian, we should have the insight of faith as it directs and contains the intellectual knowledge of directions and guidance so that in times of adversities, we can hold on to hope for better things. In short, by faith we begin and by hope we continue. (Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see). We can also say that Faith is the creative side of Hope since it says in Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith, it's impossible to please God".

I also read before that Hope is the blueprint of Faith. We know what we want to do in our lives, we have this vision and we already have the knowledge. Hope is the plan that faith carries out. We should learn and understand the words, base our hope in His words and not in our wishes. In Hebrews 6:19 it says there "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain". Hope described as the anchor of life since we are like a ship in this world on which we might encounter storm that can toss us up and down and even put us in the great danger. But with this anchor, our hope, we can keep steady and steadfast and looks forward for better things that will come into our lives.

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