The (Harder but Better) Life You Were Made For

Colossians, one of Paul’s shortest letters, may also be one of his most helpful. This young church that Paul is corresponding with is in the process of discovering what it means to believe in Jesus Christ and to follow Him with the entirety of their lives. Because most of them are very new to Christianity, they’ve still got a lot to learn (don’t we all?!) — but Paul is deeply encouraged by this community. Why? Because they’re taking what they do know about Jesus and they’re actually putting it into practice … and that has made all the difference!

If you’ve ever felt like faithfully following Jesus … or trusting Jesus … or obeying Jesus … seems really hard and confusing in real life today — you’re not alone. That’s what many of the Colossians felt, as well, particularly when it came to those areas of life that hit close to home for all of us: our faith, our relationships, our sexuality, our work, and our families. These young Jesus followers were living in the middle of a very confused culture — not too different than ours — and faithfully living out their Christian convictions was hard. But it was better than anything else they tried. And that, in many ways, sums up the journey of following Jesus for all of us today: harder but better. And so over the next 10 weeks, we’ll dive into this text and learn what God has spoken to this young church, and what it means for our church today, to live out the harder, but better, way of Jesus.