“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel” (Colossians 1:3-5)
What has struck me most this quarter as we revisit Colossians in Bible courses and one-on-one meetings is the relationship of faith and love to hope which Paul here describes.
If you asked me, “How can I strengthen my faith in Christ? How can I more strongly rely on what he has done for me? How can I be more sure of his identity?” Or if you asked me, “How can I grow in love for others? How can I more joyfully serve the needy? How can I more effectively build up fellow Christians?” my top suggestions would likely all tend toward the practical: read a certain book, find an opportunity to serve, think of the needs of others more than your own, etc.
But Paul here affirms something deeper. And frankly, something that works better than any list I could prescribe. Paul’s words here reveal that one of the main tributaries—if not the main tributary—of our faith in Christ and love toward others is the hope that we have in him. It is “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven,” of which “you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,” that you have faith in Christ and love toward all the saints.
Therefore, dwell today on the hope you have in Christ! Spend time contemplating some of the yet-to-be-fulfilled promises of God in Christ for you. And do so in order that you might better love those around you today. And that you might more firmly place your faith in Christ and not in faulty saviors. Hoping in Christ will fortify your faith in him and free you to love others more than yourself.
As you fix your eyes on the hope laid up for you in heaven, would you join us in prayer for the students of Stanford University, that they might likewise fix their hope on Christ? Please pray:
- That God would direct believers on Stanford’s campus to set their hope on Christ and not on the things of this world, and that this hope would invigorate their faith and love.
- That God would enable new students and staff at Stanford to hear of the hope in Christ that is found in “the worth of the truth, the gospel,” and set their hope on him.
- And that God would strengthen the faith and love of students in Christian Union through our life together this year.
We are grateful for your partnership through prayer!
Warmly,
Justin Woyak
Ministry Fellow
Christian Union Caritas
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
