“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give reason for the hope that you have.”

Have you visited the computer site www.eHow.com? According to eHow they are the world’s most popular place to find step by step instructions on how to do just about everything. If you click on eHow today you can find how to make pretzels, save on gas, clean green, clean a computer keyboard, buy cheap airplane tickets, select a running shoe, host a cocktail party, stop procrastinating, brush your dog’s or cat’s teeth. These are just a few of the thousands of how to tips you can find on eHow.

Frank and Cynthia, you would be particularly interested to know that they have pages and pages of how-to advice about babies. You can learn how babies develop, what to expect from your newborn, to scheduling doctors visits and nighttime feedings. You will find, and I quote that “eHow is your source for practical baby advice.”

While I visited eHow I started putting different topics into the search box. One of the topics I put in was hope. Here is some of their advice I found about how to have hope. I think you will get a kick out of the first suggestion.

Is it me, but did any of these tips tell you HOW to have hope? Devise a plan. Once you have hope, you need to do something with it. Go to your happy place. After you learn to have hope and use it to execute your plan, make sure you end up in your happy place.

If you are looking for a how-to guide for hope I suggest you open your Bible to 1 Peter 3:8-12. 1Peter 3:13-18 reads like an eHow list for having hope especially in the midst of hostility.

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give reason for the hope that you have.”

Begin with an attitude of love. The church, that is you and I, must reflect a “unity of spirit.” How do we do this? According to Peter we do this by focusing on the primary virtues of the Christian life: “sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” Chances are very good if we intentionally put these virtues into practice, they will become habits, a way of living.

If we can’t love, fellow Christians how are we ever going to love non- Christians? Unfortunately Christians spend a lot of time taking stands on issues and arguing with each other when we should be spending more time on our knees together in prayer, taking on the character of Christ. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying we shouldn’t be vocal, just that our words need to always be spoken with love.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give reason for the hope that you have.”

Repay evil with blessing. We can’t control the attitudes and actions of others toward us, but we can control how we respond.

Repaying evil with good, turning the other cheek so to speak, isn’t a popular notion even among many Christians.  We’re called to bless those who persecute us, to endure unjust suffering if need be, but we’re not called to be silent about it.  We’re to use those times of injustice to speak powerfully and passionately for God’s justice and truth.  Jesus, of course, is our prime example.  His words from the cross and even his silence in the face of his accusers were not passive, but revealed a deep strength that was apparent even to his enemies.  Our words of love and our attitude of peace in the midst of slander and persecution can speak volumes. When we choose to speak the truth in “gentleness and reverence” we reveal the “hope” that is within us.

Face your fears.

“Now who will harm you
if you are eager to do what is good?”

Asks the writer. In a perfect world that would make sense. We’d like to believe that things are fair and that people get rewarded for doing good and punished for doing evil.  Reality, however, is a different animal.  People doing good are often the most tantalizing targets in a world where systemic evil works hard to keep the status quo of injustice intact.

The truth is that we do often “suffer for doing what is right” but even then, says the writer, we are “blessed” (v. 14).

“Do not fear what they fear”

Is a quote from Isaiah 8:12 (NIV). People often fear change, fear a loss of power and fear that which they do not understand. Rather than address those fears, they lash out at those whom they believe are a threat. Christians are not to act out of fear. Rather, we’re to have a healthy fear of God who ultimately holds everyone in his hands. Suffering will come, but

“it is better to suffer for doing good,
if suffering should be God’s will,
than to suffer for doing evil”
(v. 17)

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give reason for the hope that you have.”

Follow the example of Jesus. If you want to understand the proper way to live out hope in the midst of suffering look to Jesus. Jesus was crucified unjustly, suffering under the worst human violence and insult one could imagine, yet his death and resurrection were the ultimate triumph of hope over injustice, sin and death. It was through that suffering that Christ was able to

“bring [us] to God”
(v. 18)

Jesus continues to proclaim that message of grace and liberation. As Jesus’ people, we can respond to the lingering evil of the world, not by retaliating, complaining or retreating, but by proclaiming the hope, the realized hope, that is within us.