Center of My Life
Colossians 3:5-10, 14-15, 17-21; 4:5-6
Jesus is the center of our lives, and his presence changes our identity and behavior. Thus, Paul commanded the Colossian believers to put off and kill their old lives (vv. 5 and 8). The old self did whatever it felt like whenever it felt like it, exhibiting bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk, and lying to one another (vv. 8-9). The Message puts it this way: “That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.”
Paul commended them to put on the new self that had been “renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (v. 10). This new life created by God would display compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline, levelheadedness, and a quickness to forgive (vv. 12-13). Anyone remade in Christ must put on love as the chief characteristic (v. 14) and be unified with all believers through the rule of Christ’s peace (v. 15). Christ is the center of our lives (v. 11 – Christ is all and in all); therefore, everything we do and say is done in the name of the Lord Jesus to bring glory to God the Father (v. 17).
The quality of the Colossian believers’ relationship to Christ would be reflected in how they treated their families (vv. 18-21). Wives are to submit to their husbands because it is fitting (their duty) in the Lord. Thus, a married believer submits to her husband because Christ is central in her life and she submits to Christ. But the husband is not to be harsh with her. Because Christ is the central focus of his life, the husband demonstrates loving service for his wife’s entire well-being. This reflects Paul’s admonition to husbands to love their wives “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).
Likewise, children should obey their parents because Christ is the central focus of their lives. Their obedience pleases the Lord. But parents should firmly guide their children, not demand servitude, lest they discourage them (the word meaning “to make timid”). Parental demands should build them up.
Christ was also to be central in the Colossian believers’ public lives, especially as they dealt with nonbelievers (4:5-6). The believers were to behave wisely toward the nonbelievers. They were to be tactful yet bold in their witness to the nonbelievers, making the best use of their time. Their speech was to display wisdom and grace because they had been the recipients of God’s grace.
Scudder– Lessons in the BSL series for the winter quarter are being written by Steve Scudder, former DOM for Savannah River Association.