What does ‘Spero’ mean?
By Jenny Woo
In latin, “spero” means “to hope.” It is often seen in the phrase, “dum spiro spero” which translates to “While I breathe, I hope.”
However, to “hope” is not simply a phrase about optimism for our Spero team. It is connected to a deeper significance that drives our purposes in life.
So how does this relate to Spero’s mission?
What you may find interesting is that our original founders have used “spero” as a play on words to reflect a deeper purpose. Spero sounds similar to the name for the animal sparrow. In the Bible, Matthew 10:29–31 says,
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (ESV).
Here we see Jesus Christ describing the loving character of God the Father. In this time period, sparrows were often seen as the smallest creatures, and as consistent with today, pennies carry almost no value. But what Jesus Christ emphasizes here is that God rules over what we may consider the most insignificant and trivial aspects of life. This passage focuses on the loving character of God. To a holy and perfect God, we are of value to Him. That is the amazing love of God — we receive a love that we never deserved.
Spero’s mission is deeply connected to the gospel.
The gospel is good news to all who hear it! Here’s what the message is about:
We are all sinners who have fallen short of God’s perfection and character (Romans 3:23). Any act against God and His character offends His glory and is a sin. For example, lying or being jealous is a sin. If we count how many we have sinned per day, it is enormous! I am also a bad sinner. And for sinners, hell is our deserved place. We deserve to be in eternal condemnation because we sinned against a holy God and rejected Him, even when He has revealed Himself to us. But God sent His Son Jesus to live the perfect life we couldn’t and also to die for our sins as a sacrifice so that we can stand before God and have a relationship with Him. Jesus also rose again from the dead and is now with the Father, praying for us. This is immense grace, and if we confess in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and that He was raised from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:9).
Because we received amazing love and grace from God through Jesus Christ, we seek to become more like Christ and to share the gospel through our apparel. Every product that Spero designs has a specific meaning that reflects the great message of Christ. We also use our funds to help those who are in need, just like how Christ helps us and those in need.
