Discipling Life

In his letter to the Colossians , the apostle Paul reminds us of where we started and where God’s grace is taking us. He writes, “And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him” (vv. 21-22). Before we even realized we needed fixing, God was already pursuing us, reaching out into our isolation to bring us home. Through Christ, we are not just patched up, we are completely reconciled and made new. This is not about earning God’s love. It is about allowing grace to transform our hearts and lives day by day. This passage ends with a beautiful mystery: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (v. 27). Christ is not distant or unreachable. Through the Holy Spirit, he dwells with his people, strengthening, convicting, comforting, and renewing us. Wesley often spoke of holiness as the love of God filling the heart and overflowing into everyday life. ...

It’s not easy to look at someone through a new lens. Our first impressions, disappointments, and disagreements often cling to our view of another person. But God invites us to see differently. God calls us to look not through the lens of the past but through the mercy of Christ. Paul writes, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view” (v. 16). In Christ, the way we see others, ourselves, and the world begins to change. ( 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 ) Paul’s words reach to the heart of the gospel: “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (v. 17). New creation is not a distant hope, it is a present reality breaking into our lives through grace. God’s reconciling love does more than forgive; it renews and transforms. This is prevenient and justifying grace in motion. God comes toward us before we are even aware, inviting us to be made whole, and setting us right in relationship with hi...