A Well-tended Faith

GETTING STARTED

Inherited abilities are funny things. We receive them from our parents, and we pass them on to our children. Often we assume that all knowledge, skills, and abilities are hereditary; however, this is not always the case. For example, my mother was a gifted gardener. Plants flourished under her care, yet they wilt and die under mine. I’d always thought my mother had knowledge and skills that skipped a generation. In truth, her gardens thrived because she had a heart and passion for them. She tended them, knew all about them, and spent time with them.

  • What knowledge or skills have you inherited from your parents? What skills and knowledge have you had to acquire on your own?

READ THE WORD: Colossians 2:1-7 (ESV)

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. List the things Paul desired for the Christians in Colossae (vs. 2).
  2. What was Paul’s fear for the Colossian church? What did Paul say the Colossians needed to do in order to avoid this (vss. 6-7)?
  3. What false teaching are we susceptible to today?
  4. Was your spiritual growth complete when you received Christ? What, practically, does it look like to walk in Jesus as you received him? To be rooted, built up, and established in faith?

RESPOND TO GOD

Paul’s instructions are as vital to us as they were to the Christ followers in Colossae. He gives an urgent reminder that we have to walk forward in our faith and reach toward Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Our faith cannot be neglected and our relationship with Christ must be something we purse passionately. Being rooted in a full understanding of who Jesus is protects us from false teaching, which leads us astray. Our faith is too important to rely on someone else to tend it. For faith to flourish, we must pour our heart and time into its growth!

  • Ask God to help you come to a fuller understanding and knowledge of Jesus, and to continue to be rooted, built up, and established in your faith.