Hope Is Contagious

By Kristin Funston, Contributing Writer

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” 1 Peter 3:15 ESV

Have you ever met someone and said to yourself, I want what they have?

I’m not talking about their material things, I’m talking the intangible. It’s something more. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but whatever it is, it sparkles. It is something that should be unseen but bubbles to the surface, clearly visible.

It’s the energy in someone’s step, the infectious laugh, the sparkle behind their smile, the confidence spilling from them, the engaging and charismatic conversations they hold. These attributes are infectious. And they are an infection we want.

This is hope.

In Apple’s New Oxford American Dictionary, hope is defined as a longing or deep desire, a feeling of expectation or desire for something to happen, a person or thing that may help save someone, or a a feeling of trust.

People are curious. We want to know everything, and we want to have everything. So we search for it. We both consciously and subconsciously search for our desires and/or a person or thing that might save us – the “hope” defined above.

Hope makes people wonder. Wonder about you. Wonder about your situation. Wonder why you are they way you are. Wonder about your hope.

I think this is why people flocked to Jesus. He was a charismatic, dynamic, yet relatable teacher. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have been so popular. Because people are always searching, they are quickly ready to move on to the next thing. But they couldn’t get enough of Him.

There’s something else about people – about us – we should recognize …

We are gluttonous. We want what others have. But we can only long for and crave something we know or feel is there.

Jesus had hope. Jesus gave hope. Jesus IS hope.

He is our hope. And He is contagious.

This is intentional. God programmed us this way – to want that Hope. He also intentionally made it so our mood and outlook changes based on those around us. How cool of God to infect us with someone else’s trust in expectations? To infect us with His Hope. It catches. People want it. They want something to look forward to.

When was the last time you caught the bug of someone else’s hope?

And this Christmas season, what about your Hope? Is it contagious to those around you?

---

Thank you to Kristin Funston for contributing this article to the #RealHope series.

Kristin writes for her blog, KristinFunston.com 

---

This article is part of the #RealHope blog series and Hope Is Holiday Devotional Study.

For information regarding our current and future studies, visit our Bible study page.