Finding Fulfillment in Christ
By Marsha Iddings
Colossians 2:8-11 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Our society puts pressures on young people to make them feel that they are not complete and fulfilled unless certain conditions are met. What young person hasn't heard someone ask them, "When are you doing to start dating and find a boyfriend (or girlfriend)?" or "When are you ever going to get married?" Then once a person does get married, the question is, "So, when are you going to have a baby and start a family?"
Then there are those, who like the Pharisees, add their own list of rules and commandments to what God says in the Bible and they set out to make you feel that you are incomplete in your faith in Christ because you don't adhere to their religious rules.
Paul tells us to beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. I fell into this trap for some time. There was a time when my husband and I were unable to conceive and start a family. It was eight years of infertility. This was a very difficult time for us because of the pressures that were placed upon us to start a family. We began to feel that we could not be complete unless we were able to bring children into the world.
Then one day I read the scriptures above and realized that I am complete in Christ! I can find fulfillment in Him right where I am at this moment. I am complete in Him and I don't need anything more. This truth will protect you from the assaults of the devil on your life. After all, wasn't it Satan's design in the garden to get Eve to feel she was not complete and fulfilled unless she ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Didn't he make her feel as if she was missing out on something very important without it?
Once you get a hold of the truth that you are complete in Christ alone, then when you begin to feel pressure to believe you can not be fulfilled and complete unless you do or achieve certain things, you will be able to stand against it, firm in your faith.
Dear Father, It is the devil's design to make me think I am not complete in You alone. Please help me to stand against the world's philosophy and to stand complete in You. Amen.
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