The link between the objective hope laid up in heaven and the active love for the saints on the earth is the subjective experience of hope welling up in our hearts. So the second observation about love is that it is caused by hope, it is a fruit of hope. The third observation is that love is a fruit of the gospel. The gospel is bearing fruit and growing wherever it is preached, just as also among the Colossians. So when Paul hears that there is faith and love flourishing among the Colossians he sees it not only as evidence of the power of hope, but also as evidence of the power of the gospel.
Love is a fruit of hope.
And love is a fruit of the gospel. And this is simple to understand because verse 6 says that the hope was heard in the word of truth, the gospel. Now the fourth observation is that love is a fruit of the Spirit. Verse 7 continues on by saying that the Colossians had heard the Gospel from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. So the love that the Colossians have for Paul and for all the saints is not a love that is natural to the human heart.