"Hope is the reflection in us the things that God has prepared for those who love him. That reality Christ reveals. He purifies our desires. He makes us want the things God is waiting to give. He awakens the spiritual hunger which he came to satisfy… In the presence of Christ the spiritual needs and longings of the heart awaken. We learn what it is we ought to pray for, with the assurance that such prayers will be answered. We realize that life does not consist in the possession and enjoyment of material things. This does not mean that our material hopes will not be fulfilled. Jesus promised that if we seek first the kingdom of God all that we need will be added. The material blessings of life and the peace, freedom, and happiness for which we naturally long, because we need them, are by-products. They are found in their fullness only when we cease to set our hearts upon them and seek to know and to do the will of God as Christ reveals it. In this sense also the promises of God are fulfilled through him."

- The Interpreter’s Bible, Commentary on 2 Corinthians 1:18-20