Last Sunday, I preached from Colossians 3:12-17. You can find the message here. I found myself saying, over and over again, something to this effect: “Remember who you are as a child of God - be compassionate, kind, gentle, patient, humble, forgiving, and loving!” It’s true. Followers of Jesus - because we are chosen, holy, and dearly loved - are free to be compassionate, kind, etc. But we cannot force this. We cannot make this happen.
I walked to my car after preaching both services and wondered, “how can we actually become these things?”
How can our church remember who we are, live out of that reality, and be these things toward one another? How can we be a church that displays radical grace toward one another?
It struck me that Paul revealed what his strategy was for the church of Colossae to “get it”: Ask God to do it.
He prayed.
Look at how Paul starts his letter: “. . . 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. . .” (Colossians 1:9-10). Paul knew what he would be saying to the Colossians later in the letter. Paul knew what he was calling for would have to take place supernaturally, by God, in the hearts of humans. In other words, he knew it couldn’t be done by mere telling them to do these things. He knew it couldn’t be done by will power. Knowledge was necessary, yes. But supernatural power was critical for actual transformation.
So Paul prays for the Father to fill them with knowledge about what God is up to (His will) and for God to do this by granting them wisdom and supernatural (spiritual) understanding. He prays (to use another translation) for God to “give them wise minds and spirits attuned to God’s will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works.” My translation: “God give them deep, soul-soaked understanding of what you’re doing in and around them with wisdom to live it out.” Or, “God, cause these grand realities to transform the lives of these Christians.”
How do we get Colossians 3 in us? How can we be a church that lives out the realities we find in Colossians 3:12-17? How can this be real for you and for those you love?
Pray for God to make it happen. Ask God to do what only He can do in hearts.
I’m pretty sure God wants to answer a prayer like this.
Prayer