From Resolutions to Transformation

There has been a shift in Christianity in the USA in the last few years. Earlier this month, on 3 December, Rikki Schlott published an article about young men leaving Protestant churches in droves for more traditional churches, like the Eastern Orthodox Church, seeking a more masculine form of Christianity.[1] If you follow the online platforms, as I do, you will notice a similar trend in other liturgical churches. Traditional churches are still in decline, but they are making a serious comeback for various reasons, namely (1) a desire for tradition and traditional values in an age of instability and social change, (2) a desire to connect to the roots of historic Christianity, (3) a desire for beauty which is lacking in contemporary churches which are sometimes perceived as being sterile, (4) a profound disillusionment with “seeker-sensitive” Christianity and the superficiality of Ted Talk-style sermons paired with rock-concert-like worship services. I do, however, want to acknowledge that such contemporary churches are often very good at evangelism and discipleship. But what stood out to me the most was that youngsters are looking to be challenged in their faith. In an interview, one of the young men said, “I was attracted to Orthodoxy because it is more traditional and masculine. I especially appreciate the challenge, and the discipline required to adhere to intense prayer and fasting.”

I am not suggesting that we all become Eastern Orthodox, but many are seeking depth and challenge in their Christian faith today. This hunger points to a need for transformation, something Paul addresses in Colossians 3:1–17.

We are days away from New Year’s when we set our own challenges and New Year's resolutions. There is nothing wrong with having those, indeed they are good, but I want to challenge you to place your primary focus on developing the virtues from Colossians 3:12 and make your other New Year’s resolutions secondary.

Virtues are Essential for Spiritual Maturity

Paul lists these five virtues as compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12), and then talks about forgiveness, thankfulness, love, and peace (Colossians 3:13–17). There are, of course, many other virtues like faith, charity, wisdom, justice, courage, moderation, and so on. If we fail to take up the challenge of developing our virtues, our spiritual Christian life will be stunted, and we will be a poor witness of Christ and his Church.

We are saved by grace, not by good works (Ephesians 2:8–9), but good works and growing in virtue are a matter of Christian growth, maturity, and sanctification, that is, being transformed and becoming more like Jesus.

We need to be intentional about building a life of virtue and weed out our weaknesses. For every virtue, there is a vice; that is, an opposite moral wrong, sin, or evil act. For example, if generosity is a virtue, greed is its vice. The challenge is to put an end to our sin by repenting and turning away from it and then filling that gap with the opposite—whatever the correlating virtue might be—and growing and developing that virtue. Once we begin to master our spiritual life in this way, the Holy Spirit will begin to transform our lives. There is a reciprocal relationship here as Paul points out in Philippians 2:12b–13, “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Emphasis mine).

A few days ago, my wife asked me to make fried eggs for supper. I got the first egg in the pan successfully, but the second one ended up on the floor. I was fuming with annoyance. Anyway, I cleaned it up and cracked open another egg, thankfully it found its way into the frying pan, but to my horror, it was rotten! What started out as a serious annoyance soon got out of hand, I began to feel as if the eggs were on an all-out assault against me! My peace and tranquillity were gone. While there was no real sin in this unfortunate episode, other than anger directed at the eggs, it was a missed opportunity to work on the development and growth of my virtues.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we came to a place in our spiritual life where we found ourselves aligned with God’s desires and divine will, living in deep and abiding union with Christ where we no longer have any attachments to sin and we live out all the virtues effortlessly and perfectly? I’m a long way off from that, you can ask my wife or any of the eggs in our kitchen, but that is the challenge that Christ put on my life, as well as yours. Such a transformation requires much patience, refining, and even suffering.[2]

Putting on the Virtues of Christ

The very first step in this transformation is to set your hearts and minds on things above, where Christ is, and not on earthly things. Because we have been raised with Christ, Paul says (Colossians 3:1–2). He proclaims, “Put to death your sin!” and then he lists the vices that evidently characterized the Colossian Christians before they came to Christ, namely: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. He reminds them that they used to walk in these things before they came to faith. While as Christians now, you might not walk in these, your life still exhibits other vices, like anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying to one another. “Stop it!” Paul says, “You have been made new, and your knowledge is being renewed in the image of your creator.” (Colossians 3:5–10).

Paul encourages us to clothe ourselves with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Why? Because we are God’s chosen people, we are holy, meaning set apart, and we are dearly beloved by the Father (Colossians 3:12), therefore, God demands that we put on the virtues of Christ Jesus, for he has given us a new identity.

In any community or workplace, you will always have people who rub you up the wrong way. I like to call those people “virtue growers,” because I can grow in virtue if I deal with them well in a God-honouring way. I invite you to welcome virtue growers when they come your way. Paul is not naïve he knows relationships can be difficult, but he encourages us to develop the virtue of bearing with one another and offer forgiveness when needed. Find any excuse to forgive because God has forgiven you. Paul then identifies love as the greatest of all virtues, saying, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:14). As if to say, put on love like a cloak, because it covers all the other virtues. It’s the greatest of all the virtues because it unites all of them together.

Paul then brings our attention to Jesus, the Prince of all virtues, the Prince of Peace, for he is the only one who can give us the virtue of peace if we allow him to rule in our hearts. After all, we are all one in Christ and have been called into his peace.

Developing Your Virtues

So how does the Apostle Paul help the Colossian church, and you and I today to develop these virtues, what advice does he have? Firstly, Paul encourages us to be thankful. Even when we have little, be thankful for what we do have (Colossians 3:15). Secondly, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly.” The NIV translation, which is particularly good, is a bit unusual here. Paul’s words, ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐνοικείτω ἐν ὑμῖν πλουσίως, is better translated as, “Let the word of Christ live richly in you” (my translation). The words of Jesus and his teachings are alive, and they ought to live in you and me. They are not an abstract substance that moves among us. No, we need to internalize his words and his teaching, allowing them to transform us. But this transformation is also communal because each of us is to ensure that the words of Christ live in us richly when we teach and admonish one another. “Admonish” sounds archaic and foreboding, but it simply means to counsel others to stop certain harmful behaviours that are inappropriate for the Christian life, and to help them to avoid them. Paul also tells us that one needs to give such counsel with wisdom. My word of wisdom here when giving such counsel is to ensure that the relational bridge between you and the individual is strong enough to carry the load of the counsel you wish to convey. Thirdly, while there are certainly times to bring private counsel, correction, and sometimes even church discipline, Paul primarily has in mind, at least in this passage, that this is carried out through “psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

Concluding Thoughts

Many Christians of my generation and younger are waking up to the fact that the church never was and never should be relevant to the world around them, but it is called to be attractive! When the church tries to be relevant it distorts Christianity; and the moment it becomes attractive, it begins to flourish.

The challenge goes out to you and me to take up the responsibility by acting upon Jesus’s demands upon our lives and be transformed by growing in the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, thankfulness, love, and peace (Colossians 3:12–17). This is what it means for the church to become attractive. Jesus calls us to live the way he lives and to be the light of Christ to others in the world. Therefore, be truly united to Christ and his character and allow the power of the Holy Spirit and the experience of God’s grace, to transform you.

Most New Years resolutions have no lasting effect or eternal consequences, but being transformed into the image of Christ by growing in his virtues will not only bring you eternal rewards but will also make you a more loving and compassionate person, leaving a positive impact on those around you.

You might consider starting with one of those virtues and practicing it daily for a month, and then add another each month. Take small steps at a time. Reflect daily on Bible passages that relate to the virtue you are seeking to develop and record your progress. How might you reorder your New Year's resolutions and allow the Holy Spirit to transform this area of your life?

[1] Rikki Schlott. 2024. “Young Men Are Converting to Orthodox Christianity in Droves.” https://nypost.com/2024/12/03/us-news/young-men-are-converting-to-orthodox-christianity-in-droves/.

[2] Seeking Heaven. “Fr. Chad Ripperger Reveals Forgotten Secrets to a Holy Life,” 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKAJH7S8chQ.