It’s easy to start the Christian life trusting Jesus and then slowly, almost without noticing, begin looking to other things for security, identity, and belonging. Paul’s letter to the Colossians speaks directly to this drift, and his message is just as relevant today as it was then.
What Are You Really Trusting to Make You Feel Secure?
Money pays bills, but can it settle your deepest fears? Approval feels good, but can it tell you who you really are? Religious activity can fill your calendar, but can it give you a genuine life with God? Relationships are a gift, but do you sometimes trust them more like a God than a friendship?
These are honest questions worth sitting with. Paul wrote to believers in Colossae who already knew Jesus. He wasn’t telling them their faith was fake. He was concerned that persuasive voices were quietly pulling them toward substitutes, things like religious rules, impressive experiences, and teachings that promised something while slowly drawing them away from Christ.
That pull is familiar to most of us.
Does Spiritual Growth Mean Moving Beyond Jesus?
Sometimes faith is talked about as though Jesus gets you through the door, but then you need something more advanced to really grow. Paul offers a completely different picture in Colossians 2.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” – Colossians 2:6-7
Growth in the Christian life is not about moving past Jesus. It’s about going deeper into Him. Like a tree putting down roots or a building rising on its foundation, maturity comes through an increasingly settled relationship with the same Jesus you met at the beginning. We don’t outgrow Him. We grow more deeply into life with Him.
What Does Real Spiritual Growth Actually Look Like?
After the September 11 attacks, rescue crews clearing the rubble at Ground Zero discovered a Callery pear tree that looked completely dead. Its roots were burnt and snapped. Char still covered its bark. Workers removed all the dead limbs, and there was almost nothing left. But in the spring, a few blossoms appeared from the trunk. Nine years later, that tree, now known as the Survivor Tree, was replanted at the 9/11 Memorial, where it still stands today, beautiful and full of life.
Compare that to a fake plastic succulent that looks perfect indefinitely. Appearance alone is a poor way to judge which one actually has life.
The same is true in our spiritual lives. There can be real growth in a life that still bears scars. Coming to Jesus with honest, unpolished prayers is a deeper act of faith than trying to look composed in front of everyone else. If you are in a difficult season, still carrying wounds you wish were behind you, Paul’s reminder is that a damaged tree can keep growing because it is alive and just needs nourishment.
How Do Counterfeit Voices Pull Us Away from Christ?
In Colossians 2:8, Paul warns that persuasive messages will try to lure believers away from the source of life. He is not challenging people who have thoughtful questions. He is challenging any teaching that asks for your allegiance while quietly pointing you away from Jesus.
Something can sound profound and still lead you away from Him. So it is worth asking: when a voice tells you that you will finally matter when enough people notice you, what is it actually asking you to trust? When a thought tells you that enough money will make you untouchable, what is it really asking you to believe?
Paul’s answer in Colossians 2:9-10 is clear. Jesus is fully God, present bodily, and you are united with Him in the fullness of who God is. Being complete in Christ does not mean you are finished growing. It means nothing needs to be added to Jesus to make you belong to God.
What Did Jesus Actually Accomplish on the Cross?
Paul takes his readers back to the cross with vivid imagery. He describes a debt that was canceled, enemy powers that were defeated, and a rescue that no one could accomplish for themselves.
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” – Colossians 2:13-14
Think about the 2010 Chilean mining disaster. Thirty-three miners were trapped nearly half a mile underground. The only way out was a rescue that came from above. A new tunnel had to be dug. A capsule called the Phoenix descended to reach them. Their courage mattered. Their cooperation mattered. But no amount of determination could make the rock above them disappear. They needed the rescue to reach them.
Paul says our situation was even more serious. Those miners were alive and trapped. We were spiritually dead, unresponsive to spiritual life entirely. God had to come and give us life, and He did that through Jesus, who entered our world, went to the cross, and rose from the grave.
Christ has already done the work that makes us right with God. We do not need to keep proving it.
Why Do Religious Rules and Routines Fall Short?
In Colossians 2:16-23, Paul gets specific about the kinds of things that can look spiritually impressive but ultimately fail to do what they promise. Food rules, religious observances, severe physical disciplines, and intense spiritual experiences can all carry the appearance of wisdom. But Paul says plainly that they have no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
You can become very disciplined on the outside and still protect the same prideful heart within. Another conversation happens and the anger you thought you dealt with comes right back. Someone shares good news about their life and envy rises up again. If your habits are just habits and not personal, the change you need has not yet reached what you love, what you fear, and what you are being asked to surrender.
Paul uses the word “shadow” to describe these practices. They were always pointing toward something greater. When the real thing arrives, you do not cling to the shadow. You go to the source.
Can Spiritual Disciplines Become a Substitute for Jesus?
Prayer, Scripture reading, worship, fasting, generosity, and accountability are genuinely valuable. But they are gifts that point you to a person, not replacements for Him.
A reading streak in your devotional does not give you forgiveness. A strict morning routine cannot become your Savior. The person at the other end of your prayers is the real thing you need, not the prayers themselves.
When you open Scripture, what if instead of immediately reaching for a commentary, you slowed down and asked, “Lord, what are you trying to tell me?” That is how we begin to hear His voice and let Christ address the real issues in our lives.
What Does It Mean to Hold Fast to Christ When Life Is Hard?
In C.S. Lewis’s “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” a boy named Eustace becomes a dragon after being consumed by greed. He tries to tear the dragon scales off himself, and it works for a while, but he can never go deep enough. Finally, Aslan the lion tells him he will have to let him do it. The first cut hurts so deeply that Eustace feels it might go straight through his heart. But when it is done, Aslan tosses him into a pool, and Eustace sees his own arms return. He becomes who he was always meant to be.
The paws he feared became the ones that picked him up when his skin was most tender.
Holding fast to Christ means trusting Him enough to let Him reach the places you do not want Him to reach. It means bringing Him your grief, your anger, and the part of your prayer you have been editing out when someone asks how they can pray for you.
Have You Stopped Expecting God to Move?
At some point in the spiritual journey, some of us stop expecting miracles and start calling it mature faith. We stop believing in supernatural provision and call it being realistic. We stop asking for the impossible and call it practical wisdom.
But that is not maturity. That is someone who has been hurt by God’s timing and built theological systems around the pain to avoid ever being disappointed again. You prayed for the healing and it did not come. You prayed for the open door and it shut. You asked for answers and got silence. And instead of staying in the tension, you adjusted your theology to match your pain.
Holding fast to Christ includes bringing Him that anger. The one you are holding onto in desperation is the same one who went to the cross for you. You can trust Him with the part of your prayer you have been keeping to yourself.
An honest prayer might sound like this: “Jesus, I am angry that she is sick. I am scared to ask you again because I love her. I pray that you would heal her, and would you help me stay close to you while I wait.”
Those are the kinds of prayers that keep us close to the heart of Christ.
Life Application
This week, finish this sentence honestly: “I will finally feel secure when ___________.” Whatever fills that blank is worth bringing to Jesus directly.
Then choose one concrete response of trust based on your answer. If it is money, do one generous thing with what you have today. If it is approval, do something kind for someone that no one else will see or applaud. If you feel you have something to prove spiritually, reread Colossians 2 and let the truth settle: Jesus says you have nothing to prove. He has already done it.
Ask yourself these questions as you go through the week:
– What am I trusting right now to give me something that only Jesus can give?
– Is there an honest prayer I have been editing before I bring it to God or to others?
– Have I confused spiritual habits and routines with the living relationship those habits are meant to point me toward?
– Am I holding fast to Christ, or am I holding fast to a picture of the future I need Him to guarantee before I trust Him?
The Jesus who saved you is the same Jesus who sustains you. That is not just a comforting phrase. It is the foundation everything else is built on.
It’s easy to start the Christian life trusting Jesus and then slowly, almost without noticing, begin looking to other things for security, identity, and belonging. Paul’s letter to the Colossians speaks directly to this drift, and his message is just as relevant today as it was then.
What Are You Really Trusting to Make You Feel Secure?
Money pays bills, but can it settle your deepest fears? Approval feels good, but can it tell you who you really are? Religious activity can fill your calendar, but can it give you a genuine life with God? Relationships are a gift, but do you sometimes trust them more like a God than a friendship?
These are honest questions worth sitting with. Paul wrote to believers in Colossae who already knew Jesus. He wasn’t telling them their faith was fake. He was concerned that persuasive voices were quietly pulling them toward substitutes, things like religious rules, impressive experiences, and teachings that promised something while slowly drawing them away from Christ.
That pull is familiar to most of us.
Does Spiritual Growth Mean Moving Beyond Jesus?
Sometimes faith is talked about as though Jesus gets you through the door, but then you need something more advanced to really grow. Paul offers a completely different picture in Colossians 2.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” – Colossians 2:6-7
Growth in the Christian life is not about moving past Jesus. It’s about going deeper into Him. Like a tree putting down roots or a building rising on its foundation, maturity comes through an increasingly settled relationship with the same Jesus you met at the beginning. We don’t outgrow Him. We grow more deeply into life with Him.
What Does Real Spiritual Growth Actually Look Like?
After the September 11 attacks, rescue crews clearing the rubble at Ground Zero discovered a Callery pear tree that looked completely dead. Its roots were burnt and snapped. Char still covered its bark. Workers removed all the dead limbs, and there was almost nothing left. But in the spring, a few blossoms appeared from the trunk. Nine years later, that tree, now known as the Survivor Tree, was replanted at the 9/11 Memorial, where it still stands today, beautiful and full of life.
Compare that to a fake plastic succulent that looks perfect indefinitely. Appearance alone is a poor way to judge which one actually has life.
The same is true in our spiritual lives. There can be real growth in a life that still bears scars. Coming to Jesus with honest, unpolished prayers is a deeper act of faith than trying to look composed in front of everyone else. If you are in a difficult season, still carrying wounds you wish were behind you, Paul’s reminder is that a damaged tree can keep growing because it is alive and just needs nourishment.
How Do Counterfeit Voices Pull Us Away from Christ?
In Colossians 2:8, Paul warns that persuasive messages will try to lure believers away from the source of life. He is not challenging people who have thoughtful questions. He is challenging any teaching that asks for your allegiance while quietly pointing you away from Jesus.
Something can sound profound and still lead you away from Him. So it is worth asking: when a voice tells you that you will finally matter when enough people notice you, what is it actually asking you to trust? When a thought tells you that enough money will make you untouchable, what is it really asking you to believe?
Paul’s answer in Colossians 2:9-10 is clear. Jesus is fully God, present bodily, and you are united with Him in the fullness of who God is. Being complete in Christ does not mean you are finished growing. It means nothing needs to be added to Jesus to make you belong to God.
What Did Jesus Actually Accomplish on the Cross?
Paul takes his readers back to the cross with vivid imagery. He describes a debt that was canceled, enemy powers that were defeated, and a rescue that no one could accomplish for themselves.
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” – Colossians 2:13-14
Think about the 2010 Chilean mining disaster. Thirty-three miners were trapped nearly half a mile underground. The only way out was a rescue that came from above. A new tunnel had to be dug. A capsule called the Phoenix descended to reach them. Their courage mattered. Their cooperation mattered. But no amount of determination could make the rock above them disappear. They needed the rescue to reach them.
Paul says our situation was even more serious. Those miners were alive and trapped. We were spiritually dead, unresponsive to spiritual life entirely. God had to come and give us life, and He did that through Jesus, who entered our world, went to the cross, and rose from the grave.
Christ has already done the work that makes us right with God. We do not need to keep proving it.
Why Do Religious Rules and Routines Fall Short?
In Colossians 2:16-23, Paul gets specific about the kinds of things that can look spiritually impressive but ultimately fail to do what they promise. Food rules, religious observances, severe physical disciplines, and intense spiritual experiences can all carry the appearance of wisdom. But Paul says plainly that they have no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
You can become very disciplined on the outside and still protect the same prideful heart within. Another conversation happens and the anger you thought you dealt with comes right back. Someone shares good news about their life and envy rises up again. If your habits are just habits and not personal, the change you need has not yet reached what you love, what you fear, and what you are being asked to surrender.
Paul uses the word “shadow” to describe these practices. They were always pointing toward something greater. When the real thing arrives, you do not cling to the shadow. You go to the source.
Can Spiritual Disciplines Become a Substitute for Jesus?
Prayer, Scripture reading, worship, fasting, generosity, and accountability are genuinely valuable. But they are gifts that point you to a person, not replacements for Him.
A reading streak in your devotional does not give you forgiveness. A strict morning routine cannot become your Savior. The person at the other end of your prayers is the real thing you need, not the prayers themselves.
When you open Scripture, what if instead of immediately reaching for a commentary, you slowed down and asked, “Lord, what are you trying to tell me?” That is how we begin to hear His voice and let Christ address the real issues in our lives.
What Does It Mean to Hold Fast to Christ When Life Is Hard?
In C.S. Lewis’s “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” a boy named Eustace becomes a dragon after being consumed by greed. He tries to tear the dragon scales off himself, and it works for a while, but he can never go deep enough. Finally, Aslan the lion tells him he will have to let him do it. The first cut hurts so deeply that Eustace feels it might go straight through his heart. But when it is done, Aslan tosses him into a pool, and Eustace sees his own arms return. He becomes who he was always meant to be.
The paws he feared became the ones that picked him up when his skin was most tender.
Holding fast to Christ means trusting Him enough to let Him reach the places you do not want Him to reach. It means bringing Him your grief, your anger, and the part of your prayer you have been editing out when someone asks how they can pray for you.
Have You Stopped Expecting God to Move?
At some point in the spiritual journey, some of us stop expecting miracles and start calling it mature faith. We stop believing in supernatural provision and call it being realistic. We stop asking for the impossible and call it practical wisdom.
But that is not maturity. That is someone who has been hurt by God’s timing and built theological systems around the pain to avoid ever being disappointed again. You prayed for the healing and it did not come. You prayed for the open door and it shut. You asked for answers and got silence. And instead of staying in the tension, you adjusted your theology to match your pain.
Holding fast to Christ includes bringing Him that anger. The one you are holding onto in desperation is the same one who went to the cross for you. You can trust Him with the part of your prayer you have been keeping to yourself.
An honest prayer might sound like this: “Jesus, I am angry that she is sick. I am scared to ask you again because I love her. I pray that you would heal her, and would you help me stay close to you while I wait.”
Those are the kinds of prayers that keep us close to the heart of Christ.
Life Application
This week, finish this sentence honestly: “I will finally feel secure when ___________.” Whatever fills that blank is worth bringing to Jesus directly.
Then choose one concrete response of trust based on your answer. If it is money, do one generous thing with what you have today. If it is approval, do something kind for someone that no one else will see or applaud. If you feel you have something to prove spiritually, reread Colossians 2 and let the truth settle: Jesus says you have nothing to prove. He has already done it.
Ask yourself these questions as you go through the week:
– What am I trusting right now to give me something that only Jesus can give?
– Is there an honest prayer I have been editing before I bring it to God or to others?
– Have I confused spiritual habits and routines with the living relationship those habits are meant to point me toward?
– Am I holding fast to Christ, or am I holding fast to a picture of the future I need Him to guarantee before I trust Him?
The Jesus who saved you is the same Jesus who sustains you. That is not just a comforting phrase. It is the foundation everything else is built on.
