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The Christian Experience

    I love this passage of scripture because it makes perfectly clear what the Christian experience is about. I daresay the majority of the population believes that Christianity is about a series of rules. That's why it can seem so unappealing! It doesn't help when you have "Christians" who believe the same going around and telling others they are wrong. This passage reminds us that it isn't about rules and regulations, but a genuine, life-giving relationship with Christ. If you have been judged and condemned by the world for your actions, you are not interacting with anyone a legitimate faith in Jesus. Do not let yourself be discouraged by those who judge you because the old you has died with Christ and you are no longer defined by your actions. Live freely and let Jesus Christ define your life and change you from the inside out.

Colossians 2:16-23 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. (NLT)

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