Ladies' Corner

Ladies, I want to tell you again how thankful I am for each of you. Our first conference in the new building is in the books and we are thankful for how God worked both in us and through us. In us as he renewed us through His word, and through us as we ministered to our sisters in the faith.

As we work through the book of Colossians as a church family, I wanted to share some of my thoughts with you. 

Colossians was introduced as a letter from Paul to the church at Colosse because false teachers were telling them that it was Christ plus. We live in a time where there are a lot of plus services. Walmart+, Paramount+, Instacart+…and the list goes on and on! The + on the end means that you get the basic service and then some! More of this and more of that. But we know that as believers in Christ, it is Christ PLUS NOTHING. That is the truth Paul was hoping to convey to the Colossians, and that is the same message we need to hear today. Why is this truth so important? Your view of Christ impacts (or should impact) every area of your life. Knowing doctrine and theology will build our spiritual muscles, but it should translate into our daily walk, too. Doctrine and theology without practice would be like pouring all of the highest-quality ingredients into a mixing bowl without transferring them to a cake dish to bake. We can know all the things, yet still not walk worthy of our calling in Christ. How can we avoid this? How will our view of Christ be reflected in our actions? 

Paul tells us what this knowledge should look like in practice in Colossians 1:10—12. 

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, 

When we are growing in the knowledge of the Lord, not only will we show forth good works, but they will be fruitful. We don’t have good works simply for the sake of good works. Our good works should point others to Christ—that is the fruit!

and increasing in the knowledge of God; 

Increasing in our knowledge of God anchors us. We live in a world where people are placing their confidence in their feelings and ‘their’ truth, yet they are unstable and uncertain like never before. For the believer who is called to ‘walk worthy’, we must ground our faith on Christ, the solid Rock. We will never have a right knowledge of Him outside of the Word. Be in the Word. Then, when the false teachers come and say, “I think God is,” you will not be deceived by their distorted view of God.

strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 

I don’t know about you, but when I think about having patience and longsuffering, joy is not the first emotion that comes to mind! But in this verse, we learn that through His strength, we can have a deep-seated joy in our trials. Not happiness. Joy is something much deeper than that. Joy reaches beyond our external circumstances, and although the world is raging all around us, we can have joy and peace in the midst of it. I don’t know if joy is as much about our feelings as it is about our confidence in who God is. Joy does not call us to understand our suffering. Joy does not call us to make sense of pain. Joy shifts the focus from our fiery trials to the One who walks with us through them. 

Finally,

giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

When we have a proper understanding of who Christ is – that He is sufficient – we will be a thankful people. It is Christ plus nothing. 

My prayer for all of you is that you would desire to ‘walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.’ 

Reflection: 

How does time spent in God's Word strengthen your ability to recognize and reject false ideas about Christ?

How would believing that Christ is completely sufficient change the way you handle a current struggle or concern?