"I'm filling up what's lacking in Christ's afflictions." Um, seriously?
Paul is joining in the work of Jesus, filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions, and carrying both the life and death of Jesus in his own body everywhere he goes. And beyond Paul's claim that he can help Jesus with His work, he goes on to show throughout the rest of Colossians that we can too.
Want to Evangelize? 3 Reasons to Start with Prayer
Here are three quick observations about the importance of prayer for evangelism: (1) We pray when we evangelize because it helps us remember that God is really the one doing the evangelism. (2) We pray when we evangelize because God responds to prayer. (3) We pray when we evangelize because it’s the pattern of the Bible.
Joining God's Favorite Activity
God telling us to evangelize is an invitation for us to participate in God’s favorite thing with Him. It’s what He’s guiding all of human history towards. It’s why we’re here, and it’s at the very core of His desires. God loves people, and God loves seeing people come to Jesus. And it’s not just some people. It’s all kinds of people—broken people, hurting people, shame-filled people, evil people, sad people, you name it. He loves seeing people come to Jesus. Period.