Talk Together
Family conversations with God’s Word.
As fast as you can, tell me about something above you. Great work! When we think of things above us, we often think of physical things — things we can see, touch, smell or taste.
When the missionary Paul wrote a letter to the Colossian church, he told believers to set their minds on things above. But he wasn’t talking about the sky, a roof or tree branches. Help me find Colossians 3:1-4 and 8-14, and let’s learn more about what Paul says Christians should think about.
ESV
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."
Can you help me name one of the things Paul says a believer should have in their life? There were several: compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness and love.
Paul explains that sinful actions like outbursts of anger and bad words should no longer be part of a believer’s life. Instead, Christians should focus on things above and live a life like Jesus. Christians should spread actions like kindness and forgiveness to those around them!
So the next time you look above your head and see the sturdy roof of your home or a blue sky stretching far and wide, let it remind you to think about the things above — God and the things that come from Him.