We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.

After a forest fire, walking the black-charred land can be a bit depressing. There is not much life found there. Now imagine with me this land over acres and acres, charred. And there is a river that runs through it. This river is teeming with life, though the land around it is dead.

Plants and bushes start to grow, nourished by the water and nutrients the river provides. Trees once again begin to sprout up. They start as saplings at first, then grow to full-fledged trees over time towering above. And the scorched earth, once desolate, is now magically also providing nutrients for all of these things to grow. After the bushes and trees, the animals start to return as well. Life is provided for and sustained by the river, even in the most severe forest fires that come.

As the introduction stated, the Colossians were in a very tough place in their church. From what we can tell, false teachers had crept in and were preaching different variations of ways to spiritual maturity or salvation. These ways were different from the way set out by God — Jesus Christ. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’” (‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬-‭7‬)

Paul and Timothy here are encouraging the Colossians that two things will sustain them in this battle they are in: 1) Their faith in God, and 2) Their love for God’s people. What spiritual battles am I facing today? Whatever they are I must rely on and build my faith in God. I must trust in him to protect, provide, heal, and act in justice on my behalf. And I must continue to love others well.

At times of trials, some might advise that we as Christians pull back, hunker down, and pull out of ministries we were called to. But this is not the encouragement given by Paul here. By complimenting them on their faith in God and love for God’s people, he is encouraging them to focus on these two things and continue to serve in the battle.

So how do we grow our faith in God and our love for our fellow man? Well, it naturally springs up from our hope in the vast riches and goodness of heaven and in the truth of the gospel message about Jesus Christ. And this hope is a living hope: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead …” (I Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬) It grows our faith and love if we let it.

The hope of the gospel of Jesus is alive and bearing fruit all the time, all over the world. You can place it in the most barren wasteland of sin and depravity and it will, like the river in the analogy, faithfully support true life and bear fruit. So in the darkest or most difficult places we find ourselves in, we can choose to focus on building our faith in God and loving others. And we will, in the process, experience incredible hope. Why? Because it is hope that fuels our faith and love, and it is our faith and love that helps us have a GREATER, LIVING HOPE! “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (I Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭13‬)

Lord, thank you for this wonderful encouragement from Paul today. I needed encouragement to build my faith in you and my love for others in the midst of challenging times. I can be hopeful and truly joyful, no matter the surrounding circumstances, because you are with me.