Scripture: Romans 5:3–5 (NRSV) — “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…”
Reflection:
Paul isn’t glorifying suffering; he’s acknowledging a truth many of us learn the hard way: hope and endurance often grow together. Not because hardship is holy, but because God meets us in it with a love that refuses to abandon us. Hope isn’t something we summon. It’s something God plants.
Over time, that hope becomes a part of our spiritual DNA. It teaches us to look beyond the present moment and trust that God’s future is still unfolding. Even when we don’t feel strong, God is strengthening us. Even when hope feels silent, it is still alive.
This is the hope that sustains us and enables us to support others.
Application:
Bless someone today with a word of hope. Name something you genuinely see in them.
Writing Prompt:
Where do you feel hope gradually blossoming in you this season?
Prayer:
God of hope, hold me in your promise today. Shape my endurance into compassion, and my compassion into courage. Amen.