You don’t have to be political or cynical to see that noble leaders are difficult to find these days. The loudest, most bombastic, controversial, and influential are garnering a disproportionate amount of attention and stirring the algorithmic stew with consequential real-world impacts. If 2025 was a turning point, then 2026 will be the hard acceleration down an unmarked road that will take years to navigate.

Leaders of hope and virtue may not hold the highest ranks or positions in society in the coming years, but hundreds of thousands of them will rise up in the quieter, everyday places within our communities and institutions. They will be the collective faces and reasoned voices of a movement that resists the temptation to embrace a nihilistic worldview or the feverish cultural narcissism that only wants to raise the stakes in a game of “us versus them.”

Instead, these humble heroes will model a world in smaller and less flashy spaces that is more peaceful, just, and whole. They will prove to a skeptical world that diversity, inclusion, and compassion are not only possible, but a sustainable pathway for life and mutual flourishing. They will also give hope for future generations that the world we all desire to live in is not fantasy or left to faith, but achievable.

As the most influential become increasingly destructive and unaccountable, we must look to each other for support, care, and hope. Self-preservation is a natural response, but when enshrined as an ideology, will only lead to regressive beliefs, actions, and policies. Conversely, sacrifice and vulnerability invites camaraderie, shared risk-taking, and surprising innovation.

The future will not be determined or led by self-serving protectionists—not because of who they are or what they stand for, but because God will not stand for it. We—all of humanity—are created in love and grace for good works that bless our neighbors and establish shalom in every corner of the world. God’s created world and ideal is built on the spiritual law of love and nothing else. For shalom (peace, justice, and rightness) to be realized, everyday people must lead with hope and the values that cultivate love, not undermine it.

Will you be a person of hope this year in the face of increasing evil and injustice? The invitation is for everyone, and the choice is only yours to make.