STAND COMPLETE WITH FIRM CONVICTION

"[He is] always exerting himself in your behalf in his prayers, that you may finally stand complete and with firm conviction in all the will of God." -COLOSSIANS 4:12.


JESUS' followers were deeply interested in fellow worshipers.  Tertullian (writer of the second and third centuries C.E.) told of the kindness that they showed toward orphans, the poor, and the elderly.  Those evidences of love in action so impressed  unbelievers that some said of Christians.  'See how they love one another.'

The book of Colossians reflects such loving interest by the apostle Paul and his companion Epaphras for the brothers and sisters in Colossae.  Paul wrote to them:  Epaphras is "always exerting himself in your behalf in his prayers that you may finally stand complete and with firm conviction in all the will of God." During 2001, Jehovah's Witnesses will have their year text these words of Colossians 4:12: "Stand complete and with firm conviction in all the will of God."


You can see that Epaphras' prayers for his loved ones had two aspects:  (1) That they "finally stand complete" and (2) that they stand "with firm conviction in all the will of God."  This information was included in the Scriptures for our benefit.  So ask yourself, 'What do I personally need to do finally to stand complete and with firm conviction in all the will of God?  And as I do so, what will be the effect?  Let us see.

Next timed: STAND COMPLETE WITH FIRM CONVICTION - Strive to "Stand Complete"

The Watchtower, 2000