If you’re ready to change your outlook on life and become a person of hope, here are seven steps that can see hope begin to overflow from within you:

1). Choose to hope. Don’t ever be fooled. Hope is a choice. It’s always been a choice. You are not a slave to your personality. You are not a victim of your circumstances. You have the Spirit of the God who created the heavens and the earth living inside of you. You can choose to hope. I know it’s not as easy and simple choosing to hope. It’s a battle. But never ever forget: hope is a choice. If you’re a pessimist, it’s because you choose to be a pessimist. If you’re defeated, it’s because you chose to give up. And if you hope, it’s because you choose to get back up when you’re knocked down and believe in the God of Hope.

2). Inhale the Word. We see this in Romans 15:4. The Word of God is given to us to teach us so that we might be encouraged and so that we might have hope. Breathing is about inhaling and exhaling. If you want to breathe hope, you have to start by inhaling the Word, because the Word gives you hope. Every morning when you get up, inhale the Word. On the way to work, don’t get riled up by talk radio, listen to sermons of the many great preachers out there. Some of you need to go on a fast, cut out all tv, all social media, and just feast on the Word until it gets into your pores. If you want to breathe hope, you always have to start with the Word.

3). Use worship as a weapon. In Ephesians 5, Paul talks about the connection between singing and being filled with the Spirit. It’s why we put so much emphasis on singing in our Sunday services. Music connects to the deepest part of you, to your soul. And when you worship through song, you are fighting the lies of the world with the truth of Scripture. So for me, I sing. I’m a singer. I sing a lot. Not just on Sundays. I always have music going, declaring truth to my soul. I’m a big Hillsong fan, and I’ll put that on for hours, because I want to declare the truth and promises of Scripture to my soul. Worship connects the timeless truths of Scripture to the deepest parts of your soul. So worship through song, a lot. Use worship as weapon to fight the lies of the enemy with the truth of God.

4). Allow others to minister to you. When Paul prays in Romans 15:13 that the God of hope would fill you up with all joy and peace, the “you” is plural. Our faith is never meant to be practiced alone. We don’t experience the overflowing joy, peace and hope of God until we do it with other believers. That’s why we do life together. That’s why being in a small group with other believers is so important. You want hope? Stop trying to live out your faith on your own and allow others to minister to you and help you.

5). Walk in step with the Spirit. The hope of God comes to us through the Holy Spirit. When we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, we’re filled with Hope. In Galatians Paul tells the church that since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. Here’s what that means: the Holy Spirit is not stationary. He’s not a one-time experience when you walked an aisle when you were 9. His filling is daily, his power is hourly, and to stay filled with hope, we need to keep in step with the Spirit. We need to be sensitive to the Spirit, we need to listen to the Spirit and obey His promptings. And know this, a Spirit-filled life is not a life of sitting. We’re supposed to walk with the Spirit. And he’ll lead us to people that we can serve. That’s why we serve, not sit as believers. Serving others fills us with the Holy Spirit of hope.

6). Believe that anyone can be transformed by the power of Jesus. Hope never gives up. Romans 15:13 says we’re filled as we continually trust in the God who created the universe, the God who made all of humanity, the God that can save and redeem anyone. There are no lost causes. If God can save the first Christian killer Saul of Tarsus and transform him into the Apostle Paul, then God can save anyone. Don’t ever give up on somebody. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been. It doesn’t matter how far gone they might be. It doesn’t matter if it would take a miracle for their life to be transformed. We believe in the God of miracles! Don’t ever give up on anyone!

7). Exhale contagious hope. When we inhale the word, use worship as a weapon, when we do life together and serve not sit, we breathe out a hope that can change lives. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13