This is part 3 in our series on Seeking Things Above. We’re picking up where we left off last week in Colossians 3:15, where Paul continues to instruct us in how we ought to live.

We’re told that we need to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, since we were called to peace. Having peace can be quite difficult, but we need to be at peace in everything that we do. If we’re going through a rough time, we need to rely on God, and not be troubled. If we’re in a disagreement with someone or hurt by someone, we need to remain at peace. We should work to resolve the situation in a right and godly manner, but we need to stay strong and rely on God, and also not rage or be troubled by it. It can be extremely hard to fully rely on God like that, but it’s not only what we’re supposed to do, but it’s healthier for us as well. Stress does horrible things to the body.

In the next verse, Paul says that we need to be thankful. Regardless of our lot in life, we all have something to be thankful for. Even if it’s simply the fact that we have salvation through Jesus, there is always something that we can be thankful for. It’s easy to look at what other people have or have done, and be jealous as we don’t have those things or didn’t do them. However, that’s wrong; we need to give thanks for what we do have, and be content with it.

Continuing, Paul talks about how we need to be understanding and bear with our fellow Christians. It can be so hard sometimes to get along with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Whether we disagree on some obscure theological or political idea, or whether we simply don’t get along, it can be quite a struggle to get along. As Christians, however, we need to strive to all get along. We need to deal with our brethren’s quirks and differences, and when someone wrongs us, we need to forgive each other, and move on. We can’t dwell on each other’s failings. God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, so how can we justify not forgiving a fellow Christian?

Paul then says that we need to word of Christ dwell in us. We need to know what the Bible says and how it applies to our lives. One of the worst things that we can do to our witness is when someone asks us why we believe something to simply say “It’s in the Bible somewhere”. We need to know what it says and where it says it. It destroys our witness when we don’t even know where are beliefs are. Even more than that though, having parts of the Bible memorized strengthens our walk with God and helps us to be more like what He wants us to be. Of course, having them memorized means nothing if we don’t apply them and live them. We need to make sure that we’re “not only hearers of the Word, but doers as well”.

Paul continues from there, in verse 16, saying that we need to help our fellow Christians in their walk with God, and encourage them. We all should be teaching and strengthening each other’s walk with God. If someone is going through a hard time that you’ve been through, share the verses that helped you. If someone comes to you with something that they’ve learned from the Bible, listen to them, and apply it to your life, and then when the time comes, return the favor. Now, do be careful to do this in a attitude of meekness and humility, don’t lord your knowledge over them, because that causes strife. If a fellow Christian lords their knowledge over you, ignore the manner of how they do it, rather, focus on the message. We need to also encourage them if they’re going through a rough time. Be there for them when they’re struggling.

Paul ends the section saying that all we do we need to do in the name of Christ and give thanks to God. We need to make sure that our actions glorify God, and are not sinful or harmful. We need to give thanks for what we do have, and not be jealous of those who have what we don’t. If there is something that we’re doing or would like to do and are not sure if it’s sinful or not, it’s better to just not do it. We need to make sure that all of our actions glorify God.

Next week, we’ll finish off Chapter 3.

Last week, we looked at some of the things that we as Christians need to stop doing. This week, we’re going to continue in Colossians 3, and look at some things that we need to start doing. Paul, whenever he lists sins that we need to stop doing, lists their opposite virtues that we need to start doing.

The first thing that we need to do is “clothe” ourselves with compassion and kindness. The use of the word “clothe” is an interesting picture. Just as the first thing people see when they look at us are our clothes, so the first virtue that people see of us should be our kindness and compassion. Kindness and compassion sound simple enough to do, but seriously, how many of us can look at a single day of our lives where we were perfectly kind and compassionate to everyone we met? Compassion is more than just feeling bad for someone who’s going through a rough time, it’s defined as “deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with a wish to relieve it”. Do we just feel bad for people who are going through a rough time, or are we actively trying to do something to make it better?

Paul continues, telling us to also clothe ourselves in humility, gentleness, and patience. Humility is one of virtues that if you say you have it, you probably don’t. A lot of people put a show on of being humble, but that’s not true humility. The point of humility is to not exalt yourself or call attention to yourself. We need to remember that without God, we’d be nothing. The fact that we’re Christians doesn’t make us better than the unsaved, it just means that we’re saved from our sins because we’ve believed, not because we’ve done anything to merit God’s grace. We need to be careful to not act high and mighty about our faith because that’s not showing humility and is therefore sinful.

Gentleness is another important virtue. Gentle is defined as “considerate or kindly disposition” and “not hard or severe”. We need to make sure that we’re always gentle in our conversation. Anger and severity is not generally becoming to a Christian. Who would listen to a Christian when they see the Christian exhibiting the same severity or anger that the rest of the world does? We need to be different than the world.

Patience can be a very difficult virtue to maintain, especially when we live in a world that is as fast paced as ours tends to be. Rather than always rushing ahead to the next thing in our life, we need to make sure that we’re doing what we can with each moment that God has given us. When we’re going through a painful or trying time, we need to turn to God and be patient with the situation rather than falling apart. Perhaps the most important aspect of patience, is being patient with other people. We all know somebody that just drives us crazy. We need to be loving and patient to them. If Jesus can die for our sins, surely we can be patient with someone who simply bothers us?

The next thing that Paul says we need to do is to bear with each other, and forgive each other. As Christians, our fellow Christians should be some of the most important people in our walk with God. We’re supposed to encourage each other and help each other with our problems. When we have a disagreement, we need to forgive each other and move on. Beyond our Christian circle, we also need to forgive the unsaved who’ve hurt or upset us as well. Holding grudges and not forgiving is not the Christian way. God forgave us, the least we can do is forgive them.

Paul says that the virtue above all the rest is love. We need to love everyone. “They will know we are Christians by our love”. It’s not easy; sometimes it seems almost impossible, but we need to do it. It’s one of the huge things that set us apart from the world. Don’t let the little things get to you, and be patient with people. Go out of your way to help people, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. It’s a lot of work, but the benefits are well worth it.

Next week, we’ll hopefully finish Chapter 3.

We as Christians tend to get very caught up in the world around us. We worship God in church on Sundays, but the rest of our time seems to be focused on worldly goals and ideas. When we get together, rather than discussing scriptural topics or praying together, we recount TV shows and last night’s game. Our focus is on the “things of this world, rather than the things above”. But what does that mean? Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at exactly what that means. This week, we’re going to look at what things we need to cast aside so that we can look at things above.

Paul, in Colossians 3:1-4, tells us that we’re not of this Earth since we were raised with Christ, so rather than focusing our minds on things of the world, we need to be focused on the things concerning Christ, and forsaking things of the world. In verses 5-10, Paul gives a list of worldly things that we need to cast aside.
Some of the things he lists are obviously sinful and don’t need much exposition. Things like immorality, blasphemy, uncleanness, passion, anger, filthy language and lying are all obviously not godly, and while we may struggle with them , we all probably are working to cast those aside. Others, like covetousness, and malice might not be so obvious to us, so let’s take a look at them in a little more detail.

Covetousness is defined as desiring something that someone else has to an inordinate degree. It’s not seeing something a friend has and thinking for a second that it might be nice to get one of your own, it’s more of looking at it, and wishing that you had it and not them, and then focusing on that thought constantly. Paul even states point blank that it’s idolatry, which makes complete sense when you think about it. By focusing that intently on an earthly object, you’re definitely focusing on it more than you would God, which is wrong. We need to watch our thoughts about earthly possessions, even when we own them.

Malice is another one that we might need a little more information on. Most people think that malice is just being mean to someone else. While that is correct, there is another part to the definition. Malice is also when one takes pleasure in another’s misfortune. It’s very easy to celebrate inside when we see someone who’s been cruel to us get hurt or be in a bad situation. When we celebrate, not only are we sinning, but we’re not showing the Love of God. Sadly, a lot of Christians get happy and excited when they see sinners suffer the consequences of their actions, rather than trying to reach them for God. This is a very sad, but very common example of malice in everyday life. We need to watch ourselves constantly to make sure that we’re keeping a positive, loving, godly attitude, even on the inside.

Before we close part one, I just wanted to mention one other thing. Some Christians take the above verses to mean that we can do nothing that the world does, which is an incorrect interpretation of the passage. The passage isn’t saying we’re not to have anything to do with the world, but rather we need to be “in the world, but not of it”. If we want to discuss the game or a TV show that everyone is interested in, that’s fine, but we need to be very careful that that is not the depth of our fellowshipping with fellow believers. If that’s all there is, besides being sinful, what’s the point of fellowship? The fellowship is supposed to strengthen us in our walk with God, and if all we do is talk about the game, how are we strengthening our walk with God?

Next week, we’re going to look at what virtues and qualities that Paul uses as an example of seeking things above. Let us all try to remove the malice and covetousness from our lives.