As social creatures, you and I need to develop both our independence and our interdependence – the ability to rely on ourselves, and the ability to cooperate with others. Makes sense.

But there’s a very real danger in taking all that too far. It’s this: that we become world-dependent rather than Christ-dependent: that we end up living our lives as though it all depends on us and those around us.  

And that’s a problem because every human being on this planet has their frailties. Each person in your world (including you!) will eventually fail you.

That’s why an unbalanced people-dependence ends up being an incredibly hard slog because it inevitably comes at the expense of a right and proper reliance on God Himself.

Colossians 2:6,7 You accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, so continue to live following him. You must depend on Christ only, drawing life and strength from him. Just as you were taught the truth, continue to grow stronger in your understanding of it. And never stop giving thanks to God.

That’s fairly declarative, don’t you think? You must depend on Christ only, drawing life and strength from him.

The truth is that the more people-dependent we become, the more worldly we’ll be. The more Christ-dependent we become, the more Christ-like we’ll be. And actually, the more Christ-like we become, with the sin in our lives conquered, the more we’ll have a healthy self-knowledge and the more we’ll be able to cooperate with others.

You accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, so continue to live following him. You must depend on Christ only, drawing life and strength from him.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.