{"id":109,"date":"2025-07-13T16:50:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T00:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/?p=109"},"modified":"2025-08-10T11:26:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T19:26:34","slug":"with-all-his-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/?p=109","title":{"rendered":"With All His Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" tabindex=\"-1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"60\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.sermonaudio.com\/player\/a\/73025352461886\/?mini=true\" style=\"min-width: 150px;\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>&#8220;Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.&#8221;<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Colossians 1:28-29 ESV<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Paul closes out chapter one of his letter to the Colossians, he reminds us of the ongoing effort required to preach the true gospel of salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In verse 28, he declares, <em><strong>\u201cHim we proclaim\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u2014referring to Christ. This is a foundational truth of gospel preaching: Christ must always be the focus. It can be tempting to soften the message, offering a watered-down version of the gospel that requires neither repentance nor submission to God&#8217;s will. But that is not proclaiming <strong><em>Christ<\/em><\/strong>. His gospel is one of surrender, trust, faith, love, and obedience. A message that disregards the full scope of His teachings is no gospel at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul goes on to say that in proclaiming Christ, he is <em><strong>\u201cwarning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><strong> <\/strong>This highlights the necessity of discipleship. It&#8217;s impossible to communicate every essential aspect of the gospel in a single conversation. Those who show a genuine interest in the faith\u2014or who have already confessed Christ\u2014must be discipled by mature believers. Without discipleship, new believers may stumble or become discouraged in their walk. None of us are flawless examples of a model believer, but that should not stop us from mentoring younger Christians and helping them walk in wisdom and truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul explains the goal of this work: <em><strong>\u201cthat we may present everyone mature in Christ.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> The word <em>mature<\/em> here comes from the Greek <em>teleios<\/em>, meaning \u201cbrought to its end\u201d or \u201ccomplete.\u201d It&#8217;s the same word translated as \u201cperfect\u201d that Jesus used in Matthew 5:48: <em><strong>\u201cYou therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A devoted walk with Christ leads to maturity and completeness. While we will never reach perfection in this life, we can grow into mature believers\u2014learning to submit to the Lord, exercising self-control, and loving others as ourselves. This transformation doesn\u2019t happen overnight, but it must be our goal to continually grow in faith, keeping our eyes on that ultimate end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul concludes, <em><strong>\u201cFor this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> Here, we see both the hardship and the promise of preaching and teaching God\u2019s Word. Paul labored tirelessly to proclaim the gospel and help believers mature. The word <em>toil<\/em> means to labor with exhausting effort. He wasn\u2019t preaching occasionally while enjoying long breaks on the Mediterranean coast\u2014this was his daily, demanding work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, Paul did not rely on his own strength. He says he was <em><strong>\u201cstruggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> This energy was not Paul&#8217;s own\u2014it was Christ\u2019s. While our own motivation and determination may take us far, they are finite. But when Christ supplies the strength, it is limitless. He works His power within us when we commit ourselves to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In every challenge, we must trust that Christ is able to sustain us when we surrender to Him and His will. When He calls us to toil and endure hardships, it is an opportunity to rely on His strength rather than our own. As we labor for His purposes, He provides the energy we need to grow in faith and fulfill the work He has set before us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.&#8221; \u2013 Colossians 1:28-29 ESV As Paul closes out chapter one of his letter to the Colossians, he reminds us of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colossians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions\/194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingwithchrist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}