Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. Others have called this deepest quality confidence, and I have referred to trust as the earliest positive psychosocial attitude, but if life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired. (The Erik Erikson Reader, ed. Robert Coles, p.192)

How important the family is in providing relationships of confidence and trust and hope.
The church is a family of faith. The apostle John is the spiritual father in God to those under his care. As a caring parent he wants to both affirm his spiritual children, to encourage them, and also to warn them of danger. As children of God we are in varying stages of spiritual development. We need to know the promises of the Gospel to encourage us so that we might be confident in Christ and to nurture our hope. What are these affirmations?

"I write to you dear children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name." The first affirmation is assurance of forgiveness, reconciliation and acceptance because of what Christ has done for you on the Cross. "There is no condemnation" -- no guilt, no shame, no sense of unworthiness. God loves you so much that he gave his Son for you.

"I write to you, fathers [veterans in the faith], because you know the Father and the Son from personal experience, and that is the guarantee of eternal life."Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3) This gives you hope for the future which you can trust in.

"I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. You are strong because the word of God lives in you."You should never feel defeated, hopeless or in despair because you are on the winning side. "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith."

What a difference confidence can make in a person's life. We can face anything if we have these Gospel assurances.

But children also need to be warned if they are to avoid trouble. At the back of our place when I was growing up ran the railway lines, and in the front was the main road. My parents were always warning me to keep off the railway lines and to be careful when crossing the road. Young people who make poor choices have to suffer the consequences. "Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character." (1 Corinthians 15:33) If you run with the wrong crowd and marry the wrong person you will regret it. So the apostle warns his flock of danger.

"Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world -- wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important -- nothing has to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out -- but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity." (1 John 2:15-17 The Message)

"For all these worldly things, these evil desires -- the craze for sex, the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance -- these are not from God." (LB)

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life...." (KJV)

This is not the 'world' which God loves, and the 'world' which God has given us to enjoy, but the 'world' as life lived without God. It is life lived for oneself. Love for the world is to substitute means for ends. It is to make this life and all that it offers as the goal of our lives. Instead of seeing life as a means of becoming what God made us and saved us to be, we can make this life an end in itself. St. John warns us that we are backing the wrong horse if we put all our time and money into this world. Why? Because the world and its desires are transitory -- they pass away. But the person who does the will of God in this life, lives forever.

Lloyd Ogilvie wrote, "The constant question for a Christian is: what do I really want out of life and what is shaping my values?" If you live for wanting to get into the best college, or the best job, or "having it all": family, career, good looks, the dream home, you will find that in the end it is empty, and you will be in despair. If you live for this life only you will be disappointed. If you live for eternity, live by eternal values, the values of the kingdom of heaven, you will be rewarded with fulfillment.

(Ted's blog is found at www.tedschroder.com SOUL FOOD: DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR THE HUNGRY, Vol.4, October, November and December is now available.)