We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints-- Colossians1:3-4
Although Paul hadn't met the Colossians, he knew of them by reputation. He gave thanks for them whenever he prayed for them and the Greek he uses implies that he prayed for them regularly.
Why is Paul so grateful for them?
Because he has heard of their faith in Christ and love for each other.
We will look at each of these characteristics in more detail next week, but here is the interesting question:
"Do people see faith and love as to primary characteristics in us?"
What do people see in us?
Are we different from the crowd?
Does our faith influence our speaking, attitudes and perspectives?
Do our actions and words convey love, respect and kindness to others?
These are tough questions...
I know I need to constantly check myself:
- I wrestle against the cynicism that brokenness and fatigue try to inject into my soul.
- I struggle against the tendency to live a "me-first" life.
In the big things I can often respond in faith and courage...
And I am quite good at loving people who are in tough places...
But what about the little tests and temptations? How do I handle the little niggly things? I must be honest and admit that I still have some way to go...
So my prayer for me (and you) is that faith and love become characteristics that people will see in us. That we will walk more closely to God and be more loving to others. (We'll explore what that means more practically next week...)
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
