Three transformational words.

Some would argue, that these three words are crucial to human existence. Without them, and more importantly, without their Root, human beings are lost.

These three important words are found in Colossians 1.

“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. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” (Col. 1:3-8)

I am struck by these three words of faith, love and hope, and the context in which they were written. Let’s spend some time unpacking them.

1. Faith

Faith is the first thing that Paul acknowledges, regarding the Colossian church. He writes, “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…” (Col. 1:3-4a)

The faith of the Colossian church had been recognized during that time and news has travelled back to Paul. Despite pressure from outside sources, they stayed focused on this new Gospel message that so many people rejected.

2. Love

As we read further, Paul jumps to love, stating, “because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people…” (Col. 1:4) The Colossian church was not only a people of faith but also love.

Their love for their brothers and sisters in Christ had become something to be commended. Paul doesn’t exactly state how this love was shown, but perhaps they excelled in areas such as encouragement, hospitality, mercy or giving. Nevertheless, their love for each other and the church was note-worthy.

3. Hope

Then Paul moves to hope, as Paul tells the Colossian church that, “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.” (Col. 1:5-6a)

Paul clearly states that the Colossian’s faith and love stem from the hope they embraced. Hope not for what this world has to offer, but for the heavenly things that are centred around the Good News of Christ.

The Gospel

These people were concerned about Christ and their eternal future, not about the ways of this world. These Believers were focused on the Gospel. Though we, much like the Colossian church has numerous failings every day, we should be striving forward in faith, love and hope.

Pursuing faith, hope, and love shouldn’t stem from good intentions or a desire to be kind to people because it’s the right thing to do. It should be an outpouring of the Gospel transformation in our hearts, and the renewed mind that can only come from genuinely experiencing a spiritual rebirth.

That kind of faith, hope, and love does not depend on life circumstances or temporal emotional responses; it is rooted in the person and power of Jesus Christ.