We have heard of . . . your love for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. ( Colossians 1:4 4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have toward all the saints, –5)

Christian hope causes love. The Colossians had love because they had hope.

Here are four other illustrations from Scripture of how hope moves and sustains love:

1) Luke 14:12 12 And he said to him also that had bidden him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. –14: “When you give a dinner or banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

If your hope is firmly fixed on the superiority of the final heavenly reward over the brief earthly reward of human recompense, then you will have the power and freedom to invite unsavory people with real needs for dinner.

2) Matthew 7:7 7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: –12: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. . . . What man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? . . . If you then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Therefore whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

Note the word “therefore.” If you turn it around (by making it “because”), it reads, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you because God has promised to give you all you need.” Great hope impels the golden rule!

3) Hebrews 12:2: 2 looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of `our' faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. “Look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The greatest act of love in the world was driven and sustained by hope.

4) Hebrews 13:5 5 Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. –6: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never fail you nor forsake you.’ Therefore we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?’”

All the sins that cling to the love of money can be replaced with contentment and truthfulness and generosity if we set our hope fully on the promise: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”