Colossians 1:3-4




'We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people.'
We have no reason to believe that Paul and Timothy had ever visited the church in Colossae. It was a relatively minor town in what we now know as Turkey, and there is no reference in the book of Acts to them paying a visit. However, although they hadn’t met the Colossians, Paul and Timothy had heard all about them and kept them constantly in their prayers. The key facts that they knew about the Colossian Christians included their strong faith in Jesus and their love for other Christians. This is the calling of every follower of Christ, because loving him immediately brings us into relationship with other Christians.
When we start following Christ we are, unfortunately, not cured of our natural self-centredness. It is, unfortunately, totally possible for Christians to be extremely self-centred in their discipleship. We can focus on our own spiritual life and development and neglect our responsibility to other Christians. That’s deeply sad, because we need the enrichment of spending time with our Christian brothers and sisters. We need to be challenged and strengthened by their very different experiences of God. Put six Christians in a room and you will have six very different accounts of how God works. This can be hard work at times, but we all need the stimulus of opening ourselves to Christian fellowship. It isn’t an optional extra.


When the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, he spoke of the infinite care with which God organised his Church. He wrote: “He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does it own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:16). To put it simply, if you have faith in Jesus, you belong to an amazing family. It is only through your increasing love for that amazing and varied community that you will grow and become everything God made you to be.




Question: In what way is your relationship with your Christian brothers and sisters growing?
Prayer: Loving Father, thank you for the gift of your Church. Help me to love and listen hard to my brothers and sisters. Amen

Released on 18 Nov 2022