Charles Spurgeon Commentary Colossians 1:28-29

"whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ; whereunto I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." — Colossians 1:28-29 (ASV)

Warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

No mighty work will ever come from us unless there is first a mighty work in us. No one truly labors for souls unless the Holy Ghost has first worked mightily in him.

Whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: for this purpose I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

If God's people strive mightily, it is because God works mightily in them. Nothing can come out of a man except what God puts into him. We work to will and to do when he works in us according to his good pleasure. Oh, for more of the agonizing of the Spirit within us, that there might be more agonizing in our spirits for the glory of God!