Colossians 1:4 (DBY)

Passage

having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which ye have towards all the saints,

Nearby Context

Colossians 1:2 to the holy and faithful brethren in Christ which [are] in Colosse. Grace to you and peace from God our Father [and Lord Jesus Christ].

Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ continually [when] praying for you,

Colossians 1:4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which ye have towards all the saints,

Colossians 1:5 on account of the hope which [is] laid up for you in the heavens; of which ye heard before in the word of the truth of the glad tidings,

Colossians 1:6 which are come to you, as [they are] in all the world, [and] are bearing fruit and growing, even as also among you, from the day ye heard [them] and knew indeed the grace of God, in truth:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "having", "heard", "christ", "jesus", "love", "towards", and "saints". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "having", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "We give thanks to the God and..." into verse 5's "on account of the hope which is...", so "faith" and "having" belong inside that flow. In Colossians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "faith" and "having" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.