While Paul frequently speaks of "faith, hope and love", he does not always use the word "hope". To the Thessalonians, he speaks of their faith and love and then of their constancy and faith in persecution and trial. As elsewhere in his letters, Paul, speaks of constancy where we might have expected him to speak of hope.

In the scriptures, it is easy to find statements about faith and love. Thus, the word "love" occurs frequently both as a noun and as a verb and statements about faith contain the noun "faith" or the verb "believe" When we look for statements about hope, however, we must look beyond the word "hope" and search for statements about "confidence", "constancy", "perseverance", "strength, "light". The Gospels proclaim the great hope which Jesus brought to those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. Yet the Gospels never use the word "hope" in reference to this Christian virtue.

Two important lessons emerge: Firstly, God's revelation is not always tied to specific words or images, and Scripture presents the truth in a wide variety of ways. Secondly, then, we should read Scripture, with an open heart, always attentive to the eternal truth of God which transcends every particular word and image.