Focus:  My life-God's Glory

Colossians 3:15-17

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 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.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
ESV

Have you ever thought about going to school in the name of Christ and giving thanks to the Father while you do it? “Wait, what?” Hang on just a second; it makes sense if you think about it. 

School, extra-curricular activities, homework, friends, computer, video games, TV . . . these are the main components of most teenagers’ days. These things can become so routine that it’s easy to get stuck in a rut. We do the same things over and over to the point that we do them without even thinking. Too often Jesus gets left out of the equation. Our personal relationship with Him gets put on the backburner. We lose sight of how we’re called to encourage and build up those around us, and we just go through the motions of the day. 

Paul realized our tendency to lose sight of these things and focus on ourselves and our fleshly desires. So, he reminded us that Jesus is supposed to rule in our hearts. Everything we do⎯every little thing⎯is to be done in the name of Christ. This involves how we interact with others, how we build one another up, how we glorify the Lord in our schools, at practice, and at home.  If all we do is go through the motions, how are we telling the world that Christ has a better way for them to live?

• Think about every aspect of your day, down to the smallest detail. How can you bring glory to the Father through the things you do each day?