“And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power….”  Colossians 2:10 (KJV)

In thinking about some conflicts we’ve been dealing with, and in meditating on scripture, the following insight surfaced. One of the deepest themes running through conflicts seems to be the struggle for significance.

-- Lucifer wanted more significance, to be like God.

--Eve was tempted to be more significant in knowing good and evil, independently of God.

--Cain wanted his idea of a sacrifice to accepted and to be significant on his own terms rather than God’s.

--The builders of the tower of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves by their achievement, rejecting God’s command to spread out and fill the earth.

So it goes through all of Scripture and all of life. I see this in myself, being hurt and angry when someone does something to rob me of my dignity; striving for accomplishment to feel and look more significant.

What brought this out clearly was meditating on Colossians 3:12-14, “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved....” Here in this verse is all the significance that anyone will ever need.

--We are chosen before the foundation of the world to be a child of the Most High.

--We are made holy: forgiven, purified and commissioned for significant work.

--And we are dearly loved: sought out by the intense and pure desire of God the Ruler of all, unconditionally accepted, whole-heartedly adopted, deeply cared for and delighted in.

If we could just grasp this on a “whole person level” --that is, not just intellectually but also volitionally and emotionally--what a difference it would make. In fact, I think that is the whole point of the next part of the sentence in verse 12: since you are chosen, holy and dearly loved, “Therefore clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness [also translatable as being ‘sweetly reasonable’] and patience.”

When we are secure in Christ and all He has given us, then we can put on these qualities that He has already supplied for us (2 Pet. 1:1-4) and stop fighting with others for significance. When we can begin grasping this, conflicts can immediately lessen, because we don’t have to compete anymore, just rest in who we are in Christ.

Picture: Chosen by Jesus before the foundation of the world