It’s not easy—that much I’ll give you!

“What isn’t?”

Maintaining your integrity as a Christian in the light of the pressures on every hand to do otherwise.

“I can second that! I know exactly what you’re talking about. Can you give me some help in doing so?”

I can mention at least one item that I’ve found important.

“What’s that?”

In First John we read that “he who has this hope purifies himself.” That’s one element that makes a difference.

“What is that hope?”

That because we are God’s children-even though we don’t know all about it-we do know that when He appears, we will “be like Him.”

“You say it’s a ‘hope’—is that all?”

Whoa! You’ve got it all wrong of you think that the word ‘hope” in the Bible means the same as it does in our use today. The word has deteriorated in its meaning over the years to mean a “hope-so” hope! But when you read the term in Scripture, it means something certain—because God has determined it. Indeed, you might translate it “expectation” or “anticipation.”

“Explain that a bit, please.”

Sure. When Paul refers to the “blessed hope,”—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ—he wasn’t referring to the blessed “hope-so!” What he meant was the happy expectation, or the joyous anticipation.

“So, having the hope—that is, the expectation or anticipation—that we shall be like Him when He appears helps us purify ourselves now?”

You‘ve got it. Thinking about meeting the holy, completely pure One and knowing that you will be like him when he appears helps you to clean up your act now!

“You mean like when my wife is expecting company and straightens and cleans up the house?”

Right! Now, go home and think more about this—then you’ll see what the passage means for Christian living.

“Thanx.”