Be encouraged in heart and united in love for great results!

"My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2:2-3NIV)

A twofold goal

This verse says the goal is twofold, first, to be encouraged of heart and secondly, to be united in love. Let's look at both of them.

1) To be encouraged of heart

To encourage, means to make someone more determined, hopeful, or confident. To give support, to hearten, cheer, buoy up, uplift, inspire, motivate, spur on, stir up, stimulate, invigorate, vitalize, revitalize, embolden, or fortify.

2) To be united in love

This kind of love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Which produces great results!

“So that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2:2 NIV)

To recap

An encouraged heart, mixed with God’s kind of love, produces the following results.

• You will have full riches of complete understanding.
• You will know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.
• You will receive all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

And that is very encouraging!