1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ:Grace and peace to you from God our Father.3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 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 gospel6 that has come to you.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadTwo things stood out to me in today’s passage. First, Paul talks about three of his favourite fruits of the gospel: faith, hope and love. But what surprised me is the order here. He says that faith and love spring from hope (v. 5). That is, the more we are focused on “the hope stored up for us in heaven”, the more our lives now will be marked by faith in Christ and love for all God’s people.You might have heard the saying: “Christians are so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good.” But Paul says it’s actually the other way around. When we’re constantly looking forward to the eternal life that we know is ours through Jesus’ death and resurrection, that’s what will help us to trust in Christ and live for him every moment now. And it’s also what will help us to love all of our brothers and sisters in Christ – after all, we’ll be spending eternity in joy and love with them, so we might as well practise loving them now!Speaking of our family in Christ … The other thing that stood out to me was the way Paul talks about God as Father. In verse 2, he says, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father.” But in the next verse, he talks about “God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What a beautiful little reminder that God is our Father – and we are brothers and sisters with an eternal hope together – because God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have been joined to Christ by God’s Spirit.Spend a moment reflecting on the eternal victory and joy that is stored up for us through Christ – and then pray with me that God our Father would help us to trust Christ his Son and loveallof our brothers and sisters (especially the ones we find prickly or difficult to love).ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen is the senior minister of our church.