In the first week of Advent, many Christians take time to remember and reflect upon the hope they have in Christ. When most of us use the word hope in our day to day conversations, we mean that we wish something were true. We might say, “I hope I get a car this Christmas.” In most cases, we whether or not we get what we hope for is in doubt. We might get it, but also might not.

In the Bible, hope is something far surer. Because they trust that Christ rose from the grave, they trust he will keep his promise to come again. Hope, for the Christian, is not a feeling but a possession, one God gives to those who trust that the One who gave himself up for us on the cross will not abandon his plan to redeem creation, but will see it all the way through to completion.

Here are twelve great verses on hope from the Bible:

1. “We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield” – Psalm 33:20.
2. “Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption” – Psalm 130:7.
3. “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” – Isaiah 40:30-31.
4. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'” – Jeremiah 29:11.
5. “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” – Lamentations 3:19-26.
6. “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” – Romans 8:22-25.
7. “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold” – 2 Corinthians 3:12.
8. “For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope” – Galatians 4:5.
9. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” – Ephesians 1:18-19a.
10. “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share” – 1 Timothy 6:17-18.
11. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” – Hebrews 10:23-24.
12. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” – 1 Peter 3-4.

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