Our hearts are informed by our minds. Our minds are informed by what we hear and see. Our conduct flows from our hearts. If our hearts have come to believe things, this will become visible in our conduct. For instance, if our heart has come to believe that we will not pass our studies, then our efforts will immediately drop to a minimum. And such conduct of course is damaging for our results. Exhortations to work harder will not have any effect. Unless the conviction is addressed that we will surely not pass our studies.
We have started to read from the Bible the first letter of Peter. Peter writes to people who struggle with really tough experiences. Due to these experiences their motivation to live Christian lives might drop to a minimum. Although Peter does not deny these experiences, he addresses the conviction that these imply that there is no real hope. Fuelling their and our hope, he renews the motivation to live a Christian life – so that we can become agents of hope. An important theme!