Being with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Have you ever thought about the complexity and importance of the human brain? Our brains are full of ever-changing and evolving neural pathways that are firing numerous times in one second! Did you know that we know more about outer space than we do about the human brain? That is insane to me! The Lord designed our brains and minds with such intricacy, which is what sets us apart from the rest of Creation. He gave the human mind the gift of understanding language, complex thinking, and the ability to form relationships. He gave us the gift of relationship and fellowship with Himself. Our minds are precious to God because they are transformed and made new by Him.

In Colossians 3, Paul tells us to “seek and set our minds on the things that are above.” If you’ve been doing life long enough, you know that the battle of the mind is no small feat. Even when we follow Jesus, there are still days when it’s hard to fix our minds on the things of God and His promises to us. However, the longer we do life with Jesus, we know that the habit and practice of setting our mind on Heavenly things happen one degree by one degree. He helps us by guiding us through the process of throwing off the things we once gave our brains to. He reveals our blind spots and the sins that we have been allowing ourselves to entertain.

As followers of Jesus Christ, Colossians 3:12-14 says we are called to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Scripture goes on to say, “Above all this put-on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Without love, God, His Word, and people, our attempts are futile. We can’t put on this new life if we are motivated by religious or moral obligation. We can’t experience and practice true humility, forgiveness, compassion, etc., without encountering the love of God. We must be motivated by our love for the Lord and His love for us. He doesn’t transform us so that we might become more moral, but so we might experience His righteousness and glory! It’s so much more. He has so much more.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Remembering what God has done produces hope and endurance. Write down the ways that you have experienced the goodness of God and keep them in a jar to help you remember!
• Are there habits or sins from your life before Jesus that you are still holding on to? Write them down and pray that the Lord would begin to help you throw these things off and set your mind on heavenly thoughts and habits.
• Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for not leaving us the way You found us. Because of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our minds and hearts can be transformed. I pray that You would open our eyes and soften our hearts to your ways. Lead Your people in the ways You would have us think, speak, and live. We love You, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Family Devo: Colossians 3

By: Cindy Ogilive

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.   

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset  

Head

In Colossians 3, we read about living the way the world lives versus living the way God calls us to live. Impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, and slander are part of living like the world. You may want to listen to the world or be a part of gossip and sin, but Colossians 3 tells us that when you have Jesus in your heart, you want to live differently. With Jesus, you have compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience! You are capable of forgiveness and love. Verse 17 is one of my all-time favorite verses in the Bible: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Heart

Do you hold forgiveness and love in your heart? How are you able to show the love of Jesus this week? There are multiple ways that Jesus showed His love to us, and there are so many ways that you can show someone the love of Jesus. For example, you can help someone with schoolwork or you can share an extra pencil when someone needs one to borrow.

Hands

Prayer: Lord, help me have a forgiving heart and have love and compassion towards people. I pray that I have the opportunity to show someone the love of Jesus this week. Amen.