How many times a month (or day) do you wonder if you’re on the right track with your ministry? Many of us often ask ourselves if we are providing enough depth, enough fun and enough challenge for our students. Thankfully, we have a reliable guidebook to consult: the Bible. More specifically, Colossians 3—a passage that can lead us to solid ground and restore confidence in our direction.

The Scripture
Read the passage below, and in an attempt to see God’s words with new eyes, do these things to notice details you may have overlooked:

1. Draw a smiley over anything that describes us, God’s people.
2. Doodle a megaphone over any instructions we’re being given.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:12-15).

Think About It
In this passage, Paul ascribes to us the adjective used to describe God’s things: holy. It’s an anchor point for the passage.
Denominations throughout generations have provided their own interpretation of holy. For some, it’s been avoiding worldly behavior such as dancing and card playing; for others it’s been shunning modern advances.

Holy isn’t a state we achieve through an easy checklist of external behaviors. It’s a position we’re given—set apart for God’s use—and then we act from that point. In Colossians 3, because we are set apart, we are to blanket ourselves with Christ-like virtues such as compassion and patience; because we are set apart, we are to interact with others using Christ-like actions such as forgiving others and bearing with them. Then, think of the glaze that’s drizzled over an already decadent dessert: Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we put on love. Love is what makes it all work. It’s the defining trait that creates a peculiar (the occasional rendering of holy) atmosphere.

Imagine the atmosphere of forgiveness and love that’s to be produced when God’s people gather—people who are grateful (an underlying trait in this passage) that God has chosen them, set them apart for use and dearly loves them. Now picture a seeking or hurting teen in that peculiar and curiously attractive atmosphere. It is in this environment that’s set apart from anything else where the teen will find what he or she needs.

Apply It
This passage shows us how to get on the right track, possibly without even changing a thing in our ministries. In fact, here’s a one-evening Bible study outline for Colossians 3:12-15.

Worship: Share with each other out of gratitude what it means to be chosen, holy and dearly loved.

Discuss: Share with each other a commitment and conviction about each virtue listed in Colossians 3:12.

Apply: Become hyper-practical about what the group can do to bear with, forgive as Jesus forgave and to love in a way that binds all these positive traits together. Brainstorm about how these actions and the list of virtues can flow into every aspect of your youth ministry.

Colossians 3 gives us a ready-made youth ministry track, and there’s no questioning whether it’s right.