Spiritual Growth
Today, I want to invite us to look at the first half of Colossians 1 and ask the Holy Spirit to partner with us to explore what words from these verses spark curiosity or wonder within us.
I encourage you to grab a notebook or open your notes app to jot down your thoughts as you read along. Read the words as many times as you want and sit with them as you consider who they were written to and how they might also challenge you today.
The verses today are from the CSB translation.
Colossians 1:1-2
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother: To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters. Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
What stands out to you in these first two verses?
Do any questions come to mind as you read these two verses?
Colossians 1:3-8
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace. You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.
What do you notice in this group of verses?
What sparks your curiosity?
Do any questions come to mind as you read these verses?
Colossians 1:9-14
For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
What do you notice in the group of verses?
What sparks your curiosity?
What causes you to pause and re-read?
Do any questions come to mind as you read these verses?
If we were all sitting in a room together, we could share the things that sparked curiosity within us as we read these verses, and we could discuss any questions that might have come to mind while we were reading.
I know for me when I read these words, a particular section stood out to me.
“We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.”
I chose to linger on these words and to commit them to prayer and to memory. They stir something deep within me. What a gift to have these words prayed over you by those who have come before you, and what a gift to also be able to pray them over those who are yet to come. I want to be filled with this type of wisdom and spiritual understanding all my days so that my life bears good fruit and is pleasing to the Lord.
I’d love to hear what stood out to you or sparked your curiosity. Feel free to email me.
~ Melissa