Abide | Part 6 of 8
Abide: Learning to Live in Christ | Part 6 of 8
About this series
For years, I’ve read phrases like “abide in Me,” “remain in Christ,” and “in Him.” I believed them, but if I’m honest, I wasn’t always sure what they looked like on an ordinary Tuesday. This series isn’t written by someone who’s mastered abiding. It’s written by a fellow traveler who has become convinced that Jesus offers something deeper than simply trying harder. Together, let’s open God’s Word and discover what it really means to live in Christ.
Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17
One of the things I’m discovering is that abiding isn’t something we practice only during our quiet time. If that’s all it is, we’ve missed the invitation Jesus gave us.
Abiding is meant to follow us into the ordinary moments of life.
It’s easy to feel close to God while reading Scripture with a cup of coffee in a quiet room. It’s much harder when you’re sitting in traffic, responding to a difficult email, dealing with an unhappy customer, or having the same disagreement with your spouse for the third time. Those are the moments that reveal whether I’m relying on my own strength or remembering that Christ is with me.
Paul paints a beautiful picture of this in Colossians 3. He tells us to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. He reminds us to forgive as the Lord forgave us, to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, and to let His Word dwell in us richly.
Notice what Paul doesn’t say.
He doesn’t tell us to grit our teeth and become more patient. He doesn’t say, “Try harder to be kind.” Instead, everything he describes flows from the reality that our lives are now hidden with Christ. In other words, these qualities aren’t something we’re trying to manufacture; they’re the fruit of a life that’s being shaped by Jesus.
That has changed the way I think about my day.
- Before a meeting, I can ask, “Lord, help me represent You well.”
- When someone frustrates me, I can pause before responding and remember how patiently Christ has dealt with me.
- When I’m anxious about something I can’t control, I can remind myself that the peace Paul describes isn’t something I have to create—it’s something Christ offers to those who trust Him.
Those prayers only take a few seconds, but I’ve found they change the direction of my heart. They interrupt my tendency to react on autopilot and remind me that I’m not walking through the day alone.
Maybe that’s what abiding looks like more often than we realize. It’s not escaping everyday life to find Jesus. It’s inviting Jesus into everyday life.
The truth is, most of our spiritual growth doesn’t happen during extraordinary moments. It happens in hundreds of ordinary decisions to trust Christ, depend on Him, and follow Him right where we are.
And maybe that’s why Paul ends this passage by saying, “Whatever you do…do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” He wasn’t just talking about ministry. He was talking about all of life.
It turns out that abiding isn’t reserved for Sunday mornings.
It’s meant for Tuesday mornings too.
Sit With This
Think about tomorrow. Where are you most likely to forget that Christ is with you? Choose one part of your day—a meeting, your commute, dinner with your family, or a difficult conversation—and intentionally invite Jesus into that moment before it begins.
Prayer
Father, thank You for caring about every part of my life, not just the spiritual moments. Help me remember that You are with me at work, at home, in conversations, and in every decision I make. Teach me to abide in You throughout the ordinary moments of my day, trusting that You will produce the fruit I could never produce on my own. Amen.
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