Hope is not, "Oh, I hope I get my favorite toy for Christmas!" That's a wish. Hope is an assurance of things to come in the future. We place our hope in Christ, for we know that in the end, all those who trust in Him will be saved, no matter what disasters may befall us between then and now. As we get closer to that time, grow closer to Him, walk with Him, and really discover what He has for us we start to become more like Him. Those things we hate to do become things of the past and new works are found in our lives: works made possible through God's power.
That being said, we also have faith. Faith is believing what God says and also doing it. You can't say that you have faith in God and then not do His works. That'd be like telling me you trust a chair to hold you up...but then you won't go sit in that same chair. Faith is basically trust + action.
Now, when I put faith and hope together...I find something interesting in my life. I trust God, I act upon that trust, and my actions help to instill hope into others. And in particular...there's one instance I can think of where I'm trusting God for something so my actions instill both hope and faith as their main purpose. But it's going to take time. Time to increase hope, to increase faith, to increase trust...and I get the feeling it's going to be a long time.
Remember, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain if you place your hope, faith, and trust in Christ! My hope, faith, and trust lie with Him. Without Him, I lose everything, but with Him...perhaps I can find what I've lost...
