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.
Colossians 1:3-6 NIV
I'm a teacher by profession and last year the powers that be finally (after nearly eight years) worked out a deal for a raise. It still took a few months to actually get into our paychecks, but, at least there was a reasonable hope that I'd finally see a few more bucks in my account to provide for my family. That hope was not blind.
Our faith and love spring from the truth of the hope we have in Christ Jesus. It is truth, it is not fiction, truth. Knowing that Jesus lived and died, died for our sins and rose from the dead gives us hope. The gospel is not a static concept that has no affect on those who hear it. The gospel is Christ in you the hope of glory (I Thessalonians 1:27). The hope of the gospel produces faith, faith that allows us to love, even the unlovable. Just like Christ loved us.
So, may the hope you have in Christ Jesus, in his unfailing, Sovereign goodness and love for you, produce faith in you, faith that allows you to love. Love that serves and gives even when none is given back, appreciated, or accepted. Love that sacrifices. Love that endures.
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