-R-
DAY 3 –
reLATIONSHIPs—GROW IN HIM WITH OTHERS
17 These
are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in
Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the
worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail
about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their
unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from
whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews,
grows as God causes it to grow.
Colossians 2:17-19
Our
passage today from Colossians is about a church fight that was causing the
church to stop growing because it was disconnected to the Head; that is, to
Christ. Like in John 15, which we will read more about next week, we must grow
by staying connected to the Vine or in today’s passage, to the Head. Next week,
we will see how this affects our individual growth. This week and especially today,
we will see that we grow corporately by staying connected with the Head and
with other members of the Body.
On Day
1 of this week, we saw our first step in the body was friendship, and today we
see we grow in relationship. We grow as a family when we recognize that if God
is our Father, that makes us all brothers and sisters in Christ. We grow as a
body when we recognize that if Christ is our head, staying connected and in
obedience to the mind of Christ will keep us in unison with our other body
parts.
When
Jesus led us in the Lord’s Prayer, He related with us and with the Father by
teaching us to pray “Our Father.” When Christ arose from the dead, He told Mary
Magdalene, “Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and
your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” We are jointly related with Christ and
with God.
In our
introduction this week, we also saw that God composed us as members, placing us
with gifts He bestowed for the good of the entire body. If one suffers, all
suffer. If one part is honored, all parts are honored, but especially the Head.
Hebrews
4:30 says that we can grieve the Holy Spirit, and that warning comes between
two passages telling the church to behave itself in relation to one another. How
we treat each other affects our relationship with God and our relationship with
God will impact us as a body of believers.
Question 1: In what
ways will a poor relationship with Christ negatively affect your relationship
with others at the church? How will a good relationship affect your
relationship with others at the church?
Question 2: In what
ways will a poor relationship with others in the church negatively affect your
relationship with Christ? How will a good relationship with others affect your
relationship with Christ?
People have said, “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian,” to which I have responded, “No, but you do have to go to church to be a good and obedient Christian.” Further, if you don’t want to go to church, that would be an indication that your relationship with Christ is not right. He loves people and Christ in you should also love people and want to be around His people.
How would you respond to someone who saw no relationship in their personal growth in Christ and their personal devotion to the local body?
Jesus said, “by this all people will know you are My disciples by your love for one another.” How can we love one another if we are not around one another and seek a meaningful relationship with one another?
Day 4, Service
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