“Hope liberates people from the chains that imprison them.”

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.15). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Hope breaks people’s chains to their past that are holding them back.  Ray says, “It sets them free from past failures and hurts, dysfunctional family patterns, guilt, low expectations, and even crippling lack of confidence.”

And then he tells his story, “I grew up in something of an executive, jet-set family, where divorce ruled. Everybody got divorced. We cannot find a lasting marriage in 150 years of our family tree. Add to that my family’s raging alcoholism and explosive anger, and maybe you can see why divorce was epidemic and how I grew up convinced that my life probably wouldn’t feature a lasting marriage. At no time did I ever think, I can have a fulfilling family life.

“That belief got a major makeover after a bunch of terrific couples put their arms around me in an awesome Southern California church of 110 people. For the first time in my life, I saw couples that had been married for ten, fifteen, twenty, and even thirty or more years. During five years in that church, I never saw a single couple break up. That totally changed my frame of reference. For the first time, I thought, Wow! I could really have a lasting marriage. That could be my future.

“My wife, Carol, and I just celebrated our thirtieth anniversary, which means I am in the longest-lasting marriage in the history of my family. We have four children— Mark, Scott, Christy, and Leslie— whom, as of the date of this writing, I still like, and who, more amazingly, like me. They are incredible young adults who love Jesus and who look forward to one day creating their own strong marriages and loving families. Thirty years ago, I couldn’t imagine any of this.”

He then says, “The couples in that church gave me a great gift. They liberated me from the expectation that my past background would be the determining factor in my future relationships. Hope will do that for you. Hope liberates from past failures, from bitterness, from anger, from insecurity, and from the kind of low expectations that keep people chained to the past.”

So, what chains need to be broken so you can really live the life God has created you to live?