A Model Of Redemption

Colossians 3:1-4

You died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

YOU MAY THINK YOUR SUCCESSES are the greatest arenas for showcasing your values. Your dependence on God, your prayer life, your loving relationships, and your commitment to truth are all testimonies to your citizenship in God’s Kingdom. But another arena is just as powerful, if not more: your losses. How you respond to disappointment, to failure, and to insurmountable obstacles says a lot about your priorities and your grounding in the unseen realm. Your joy in Christ in spite of your missteps and defeats is a remarkable testimony to the reality of your faith.

Many Christians don’t understand that. When their own consciences or other people bring up their past, they feel defeated and overwhelmed with regret. They don’t realize that even a scarred past serves as a testimony to what God has done in their life. They see their flaws as blemishes rather than as examples of what salvation overcomes. They forget that Jesus came not for the righteous but for sinners—and that their imperfection is the only thing that qualifies them for his grace.

Go ahead and accept your imperfect record, no matter how awful it is. According to God’s Word, you have died to it. It no longer has any influence over you. You can trust God either to hide any record of your sins (see Psalms 31:20; 32:1) or use it for his glory. Your real life is rooted in the soil of God’s Kingdom and can bear nothing but eternal fruit. Those who feign righteousness to give the right impression to others are more transparent than they think, but those who abandon the pose and claim only to be bathed in the love of God attest to a much deeper reality. In them, righteousness grows naturally. Live with that freedom, embrace the fullness of that love, and trust that God will bury your old life and unveil your new one in time.

{Father, my life in Christ is like a seed hidden in the ground, but I know you have plans for new growth. Let me flourish, unveil the real me, and let my newness surpass any hints of my old ways. Amen.