Spiritual Growth

We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honour and please the Lord, and your loves will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father, He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. – Colossians 1:9-12

The Holy Spirit implants and nurtures this love in the Christian. It is the one word that characterizes the believer in Christ.

Two things stand out in Paul’s prayer for these believers. He wants them to have a full knowledge of God’s will, and that this will lead to lives that please God and are worthy of the name Christian.

Paul prayed that God would fill them with the knowledge of His will. The full knowledge of God’s will rests on an intimate personal knowledge of God.

In all spiritual wisdom. True fullness of knowledge of God comes in Christ.

Understanding. The right knowledge always leads to a changed life. This fellowship with God leads to a deeper fellowship with Him. It is a life transforming knowledge. It is a growing knowledge.

Live worthy of the Lord and please Him. A life worthy of the Lord is one that is conformed to God’s will. You want to make Jesus look good in everything you do. You want to please Him in every way. You want to live in such a way as to bring joy to God’s heart.

Bearing fruit in every good work. What kind of fruit should we be bearing as Christians? What kind of life is pleasing to the Lord? This fruit bearing is the result of a living faith in Christ.

Growing in knowledge of God.

Paul prays that they be “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously” (Colossians 1:11). That is the resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead. This is the power God places at our disposal.

Do you long to see God at work in your life?

Joy is the pervading element of patience and steadfastness. The Christian keeps on keeping on with steadfast endurance. He endures patiently without grumbling and complaining with joy. This is an outlook toward life that maintains a wholesome attitude toward life. We can live above the chances, changes and circumstance in life.