Title: Gratitude for Spiritual Growth
Contents
1. Words that begin
When there is no fruit in the orchard that we have worked hard to cultivate, when our hard work yields nothing, when our hard work does not yield results, we hit the ground and groan. But few lament over the fruitlessness of their life, which is far more important.
In general, believers' view of blessing is limited to material and worldly things, and thanksgiving is also dependent on the presence or absence of material and worldly results. Therefore, the life and farming of such church members is to pursue material abundance and worldly advancement. Such church members have little interest in seeking the Lord's kingdom and His righteousness.
However, the apostle Paul, who was filled with the Holy Spirit, is giving thanks to God in a completely different way.
2. Paul giving thanks every time he prays
Apostle Paul, who taught us to be thankful for everything, was always grateful for his life as an apostle, and he was also grateful for other members of the church despite the constant tribulation and persecution.
It seems easy to be grateful for others, but in reality, it is never easy. Do you know all the proverbs that ‘if your cousin buys land, your stomach hurts’? Isn't it the heart of the world to get sick when others are doing well? This colic does not go away even after a hundred bottles of digestive medicine.
However, the apostle Paul said to the Colossians, who were not members of the church he evangelized and raised, “Whenever we pray for you, we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Prayer” here is proschke (προσευχ?), which encompasses all thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions that a creature approaches to God. So, for mature believers like the apostle Paul, prayer and life are not two, but one. To him, prayer was life, and life was prayer. Then, the apostle Paul is making an amazing confession that he literally always prayed for the Colossians, not just when he crouched down and prayed aloud, and he was always grateful for them.
While pastoring and giving lectures, there are often times when I feel sad and frustrated.
I pray fervently all night and pray to get good grades before exams. And after praying, we just play. “I’m going to take a test, so study!” If you do, you confidently answer, “I believed in Almighty God and prayed.” There are many church members who believe and pray in this way. This kind of belief and this kind of prayer are all in vain.
Everyone, I hope you believe in the word of God's promise and live according to what you prayed for. This life of prayer is Proschke. If you understand these words, you can understand the exhortation to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
May we all always live a life of prayer, thanking God for our existence, and even more thanking God for others.
3. Gratitude for the growth of saints
First, the apostle Paul thanked God for the faith of the Colossians.
In a nutshell, faith is a gift of God's grace and a gift of the Holy Spirit, the whole person's response to God's saving love revealed in Christ. In other words, it does not simply acknowledge God's only begotten Son, Jesus, as Savior, but also means that the life of a human being saved by believing in the Lord by God's grace means submission to God.
This faith is the way to receive all kinds of grace and blessings necessary for living in this world as well as eternal life, and it is also a shield against all spiritual battles. Jesus said, “If it is possible, what do you mean? Nothing is impossible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23).
Everyone, I hope that your present faith will grow bigger and stronger by focusing on prayer and the Word and obeying it.
Second, Apostle Paul thanked God for the Colossians' love for the saints.
“Love” is agape (?γ?πη), meaning God’s essential love that comes from God, not natural love that comes from humans.
In 1 John 4:10, “Here is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent his Son as the propitiation for our sins.” There is. In other words, love is to benefit the other person in the true sense of the word, not according to the other person's demands.
It is love that God gave His Son not as a reward for human merit or good deeds, but rather as a propitiation for sinners who had no choice but to receive punishment. In the words of the propitiation, we discover that true love contains truth and justice (1 Corinthians 13:6), and that love has the characteristic of gushing itself out regardless of the other's conditions.
If there is only one way for man to love someone he does not deserve, it is through the Holy Spirit that God's love must be poured out into his heart (Romans 5:5). In that sense, this love is born of a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith (1 Tim.
The greatest duty a believer must fulfill is to love God (Mark 12:28-34). To love God is to keep God's commandments (1 John 5:3), and furthermore, to give your whole life to God.
The second duty, love of neighbor, is the touchstone of God's love and a part of God's love. 1 John 4:21 says, “We have received this commandment from the Lord, and he who loves God must also love his brother.”
All are deficient in spiritual and mental, physical and material ways. Therefore, we should have a love that makes up for their lack with what we have.
The thing to keep in mind in love is that you have to give to those who need it. This is the reason why we should receive gifts and blessings from God, and it is also the purpose for which God gives us gifts and blessings.
Another thing to keep in mind about love is that no one has the perfect conditions to love others, and no one does not have all the conditions to love others. Therefore, when the opportunity arises, we must help those in need with what we have now. The greatest love one can give to a human being is the gift of Christ.
We need to realize that life and everything else is a gift of God's love, and we should be able to see our life and everything else as a means of love.
Third, Apostle Paul thanked God for the hope of the Colossians.
The hope laid up in heaven for them means the glory and privileges to be enjoyed in heaven after death. This hope is not the vain thing that unbelievers have in the face of death, but it is the eternal hope promised by the Lord who has overcome death and rose from the dead. Therefore, this hope belongs to those who hear the truth of the gospel and believe.
Those who have this hope of eternal life can overcome all hardships and win all battles.
4. Conclusion
We are children of God who have been saved by believing in Jesus Christ. Therefore, rather than the material and worldly harvest of the year, we should be able to offer the harvest of our faith personality and life of faith as a gift of thanks to God. Believe that the things we should all be especially grateful for and the things we should be thankful for are the fruits of faith, love, and eternal hope.
(Poongseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete Commentary on 27 New Testament Books/ Interpretation of Difficult Scriptures I, II/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/Paul’s Understanding of Man/ Prosperous Prayer/ Seasonal Sermonbooks/ Sermonbook 18. T. 426 -3051)