Watch the video above and talk about it with a friend or mentor.

You can move beyond "hoping for the best" into confident assurance of your relationship with God because of his goodness, not your own.

In Mormonism you can never really be sure where you stand with God. There is no assurance before God. Only hoping that you have done enough.

No Hope

Many LDS people struggle with worry to an unhealthy degree. They can only hope they will be okay with God, but they can’t really be sure. What if you don’t fully repent? Everyone could have served more, gave more, or done more than they did. A person comes to the place of losing hope when they feel they cannot measure up. They may feel they can never be clean enough. They lose hope because of things I have done in the past. They may feel like they need to clean up first to come to church or to come to God. If you takes Mormonism seriously, it won’t be long before you fail in attitude or action. You will start to realize that you’re not measuring up.

[Related: God Overcomes Our Insecurity]

False Hope

Others in Mormonism have built their life on a false hope. They may be relying on themselves to get right with God or be a good person. Another form of false hope it to put your hope in a church or leader or spouse. We often look to some other person to be everything we need, or to prescribe the way to God. Religious systems want us to put our hope in them – instead of Christ.

Real Hope

People can have a real hope, but it must be based on the right object of hope. True hope comes from God. We will fail. A church will let us down. Other people will let us down. By contrast, hope in God becomes more than wishful thinking. It becomes a confidence. We can be sure of where we stand with God because of what Jesus has done for us.

1 John 5:11-13 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

On this basis, we go from merely hoping to actually knowing. We come to an assurance that results in true peace, comfort, and rest. There is an eternal dimension to this assurance: we can know where we’re going after we die. We can also have confidence in this life to live free of worry – all because of what Christ has done for us.

[Related: Top 5 Bible Verses on Hope]

As you get to know God, you can move from mere hoping to truly knowing where you stand. As you get to know Jesus you will realize that he is worthy of your hope.

Read more
Read less

Key Points:

  • No Hope
  • False Hope
  • Real Hope

See Also: Tags

Talk About It
  1. Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
  2. What is your initial reaction to this video? Do you disagree with any of it? What jumped out at you?
  3. When you were LDS, what level of confidence did you have about your standing with God? Explain.
  4. Did you ever have a time when you lost hope? What happened?
  5. Why are self, church, and other people inadequate objects of our hope?
  6. Read Philippians 3:3-9. Describe how Paul moved from a false hope to a real hope.
  7. Why is God an adequate object of our hope?
  8. Read 1 John 5:11-13. Why do Christians have reason to be confident about their standing with God?
  9. Do you believe that “hoping” can become “knowing”? Why or why not?
  10. Write a personal action step based on this conversation.