Colossians 1:3-8 - Thanksgiving For The Colossian Believers

³ Whenever we pray for you, we always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ for we have heard about [the evidence of] your faith in [the service of] Christ Jesus, and about the love you have [shown] for all the saints. ⁵ [You have these qualities] because of the hope stored up for you in heaven, which [hope] you previously heard about through the message of truth when the Gospel ⁶ came to you. This Gospel is [now] also producing fruit all over the world [i.e., throughout the Roman Empire] and growing [in its influence], just as it is doing among you people also, since the day you [first] heard and understood God's unearned favor in [all its] truth. ⁷ You learned [this truth] from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow-slave, who is a faithful minister of Christ [to you] on our behalf. ⁸ He also told us about your love, [which is produced] by the Holy Spirit.