Hope is a Person
There is a Christmas morning moment I will never forget. It was the first year our daughter was old enough to take it all in — the lights on the tree, the hush in the room, the sense that something wondrous was unfolding. She tiptoed in with wide-eyed expectation, her face glowing with a hope she did not yet have words for.
Children have a remarkable capacity for hope. They do not calculate it or protect it. They simply open their hearts and wait.
Hope becomes more complicated for adults. Life weighs heavily at times: fractured relationships, financial pressures, grief that resurfaces around the holidays, or simply the exhaustion of living in a divided world. Many of us enter December carrying a mix of joy and ache.
At our church, we know that Advent is not about pretending everything is fine. Christians do not deny sorrow or tell anyone to “cheer up.” Instead, we remember that hope is not a feeling we manufacture — it is a gift God gives. And at the center of the Christian story is the claim that hope is not a concept but a person: Jesus.
The New Testament says Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” In Bethlehem, Christians believe, God took on a human face. The tears Mary wiped from Christ’s eyes were not only the tears of a child — they were the tears of God entering human life.
That face would one day shine with compassion, forgiveness, and understanding. Jesus looked into the eyes of the brokenhearted, the grieving, the ashamed, and the forgotten — and loved them. He knows our blues. He lived our joy and sorrow from the inside.
And nowhere is God’s love more visible than in Jesus on the cross, offering forgiveness even as He suffered: “Father, forgive them.”
But the story does not end there. The love that went to the cross rose again, making hope not fragile, but forever.
If you are weary this season, you are not alone. If you are longing for something steadier than your circumstances, something deeper than holiday sentiment, Advent is for you. In Jesus, hope has a name and a face.
This Advent at our church we are exploring the beautiful teachings about Christ found in the Book of Colossians, with the central claim that Jesus is the person through whom all things were made and the One who still holds all things together.
If you feel like your life is being pulled apart, this is especially good news.
We invite you to worship with us this Sunday as we seek the One who is our hope, our peace, our joy, and our love.
In the meantime, consider these practices.
1. Memorize and pray, morning, noon, and evening: “Christ, my hope, hold me together.”
2. Reach out to one of our ministers this week. We will listen and pray with you.
3. Bring hope to someone else. Write a note of encouragement, call, or visit a person who is struggling.
May you glimpse the face of Christ this season — and see in Him a hope strong enough to hold your life together.
We’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment if this post was helpful, or if you have a thought, story, or insight to share.