“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16). One of the things any Christian should strive for, according to the apostle Paul, is for the word of Christ to dwell in them richly, but what exactly does that mean? The word of Christ is all the teachings of our Savior, both what we learned directly from Him in the gospels and all the rest of the New Testament writings. Interestingly, we are not only told to learn what Jesus teaches us, but additionally, to have it “dwell” in us. In other words, it has to be more than a collection of information stored in some obscure file in the furthest recesses of our minds; it has to become a part of our fundamental being.
When the word dwells in us, it directs our minds and commands our hearts. But that is not an automatic process gained from merely accepting Christ and obeying the scriptures. If only it were that simple. Instead, it involves a thorough process of carefully studying every word and cultivating a deep, meaningful connection to the teachings and principles of the Bible. When that is carefully and thoughtfully undertaken, we allow those lessons to rest in the forefront of our conscious and subconscious minds. When the word truly dwells in us, it becomes our moral compass, influencing every decision we make, reshaping our worldly nature to a spiritual one that glorifies the Father with every action.
In Joshua 1:8, one of my favorite and most quoted scriptures, the author states something we can apply to our current context. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” We don’t have the same admonishment to obey the letter of the Old Law, but we certainly have the New Testament we can apply that to. What better way to have the word of Christ dwell in us than by meditating on the Word, day and night? I trust that by now, you have noticed the emphasis on what needs to be done to properly invite the word to come and take up residence in our hearts and minds. Success in that regard is up to us. The effort we exert will be more than matched by the reward we receive.
Of course, once we have committed ourselves to that quest and been victorious, it would be a sin to keep it all to ourselves, so Paul says to teach and admonish in all wisdom. Not with the wisdom of the world but a spiritual wisdom that comes directly from God by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Teaching is, above all things, the imparting of positive truth, but it is also an act of encouragement and gentle warning of errand ways. In some ways, at least in the spiritual sense, the two go hand in hand. Whenever we teach the scriptures, we inevitably impart great hope and the possibility of God’s blessings but also warn of behavior that could lead us away from the Lord’s loving but righteous arms.
And how should you cap all that teaching and admonishment off? With songs and hymns and spiritual songs. If anything is motivating, it is the shared praise and worship of our Lord God Almighty. The words of genuine songs of praise are ballads of the heart that express our devotion to God in ways nothing else can – and they are great teaching tools as well. But singing is only an effective means of communicating our devotion to God if it originates in the heart. It must come from that earnest, most special place and be accompanied by thanksgiving for the free gift of grace delivered to us by God and presented to us by the resurrection of Christ. Let it dwell in you so that your life can be blessed and then bless other people by teaching them what you have learned with a thankful heart.
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