Love Always Hopes

It’s funny how things we learn in childhood become engrained in our memory and then a permanent fixture of our heart. I am sure that is why many verses in the Bible talk about writing God’s Word on our hearts and teaching our children when they are young because when repeated enough it becomes a part of our identity. Sadly, the same is true for the repeated things that are crushing.

I grew up in a Baptist church where hymns were sung on Sunday mornings and even now as an adult I find myself humming those hymns mindlessly or repeating them to myself either in praise or in times of anxiety. But one line that I repeat often is from an old hymn that was written in 1834 by Edward Mote, “my hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness.”

That simple phrase, the first line of a very old hymn, brings me so much peace when my heart and brain are not in alignment or when the fractures of a fallen world fall like weight on my shoulders. Without Jesus blood and His perfect righteousness, I do not have hope. For hope placed in humanity is futile, hope in myself certainly unstable, hope in fleeting things is foolish, but hope in a God who promises to hold the world in His hands when my world is spinning too fast is precious.

Hope within the context of love is not wishes of a good day free from unexpected turns or lofty sayings as someone steps into a new adventure.

“I hope today is great.”

Hope within love is bearing down, anchored from within, a humble confidence, not in myself, but of a God who has the audacity to claim me as His child, simply because I chose to call on His name.

Love always hopes because God is a proven recipient of our trust.

ARTWORK BY: Lauren Garner of Willow & Stone Designs.

To see more of her beautifully creative artwork, check her out on Instagram @willowandstonedesigns .