And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
Colossians 2:6-15 NLT
Do you remember when you first gave your life to Jesus? Remembering that first love helps grow our roots deeper in that love. As time goes on, it is easy to forget our first love and water down His truth with the deception of the world. It is good to realize again and again how much God loves us: Jesus died for us, we are forgiven, His hope gives us strength, and He is with us in our pain.
The Colossian Christians were being tempted to give into false teaching. The crooked thinking was based on the power of the world—which was shamed by the victory of Christ on the cross (v.15). One of the reasons Paul wrote this letter was to warn the Colossians about the false teaching. He encouraged them to grow their roots in the faith they were taught and be strong in their first love.
What is your story of being saved by Jesus? How can you remember and live out your first love for Jesus today?
