Hope

Hope is the confident expectation of and longing for the promised blessings of righteousness. The scriptures often speak of hope as anticipation of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

The word hope is sometimes misunderstood. In our everyday language, the word often has a hint of uncertainty. For example, we may say that we hope for a change in the weather or a visit from a friend. In the language of the gospel, however, the word hope is sure, unwavering, and active. Prophets speak of having a “firm hope”¹ and a “lively hope.”² The prophet Moroni taught, “Whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.”³

When we have hope, we trust God’s promises. We have a quiet assurance that if we do “the works of righteousness [we] shall receive [our] reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.”⁴ Mormon taught that such hope comes only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ: “What is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.”⁵

As we strive to live the gospel, we grow in our ability to “abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”⁶ We increase in hope as we pray and seek God’s forgiveness. In the Book of Mormon, a missionary named Aaron assured a Lamanite king, “If thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.”⁷ We also gain hope as we study the scriptures and follow their teachings. The Apostle Paul taught, “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”⁸

The principle of hope extends into the eternities, but it also can sustain us through the everyday challenges of life. “Happy is he,” said the Psalmist, “that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.”⁹ With hope, we can find joy in life. We can “have patience, and bear with … afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.”¹⁰ We can “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”¹¹