Colossians 3:15
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Here, Paul is addressing the members of the fledgling church at Colosse, which had been falling slowly into Gnostic practices and beliefs since the gospel of Jesus had been brought to them. Though pseudo-Christian on the surface, Gnosticism put a lot more importance on both Jewish ceremony/tradition and mystical elements, like ancient knowledge, angel worship, and asceticism. In so doing, they devalued Christ as the Messiah who brought salvation, instead putting primary importance on following ceremonies to the letter, only consuming certain foods and drinks, and having “secret faith knowledge” which could provide salvation, among other things.

The people who believed the gospel of Jesus and the people who believed in the Gnostic practices were understandably at odds, then, and there was quite a lot of confusion and hostility between the two groups. Thus, Paul writes this letter to the Colossians, putting the gospel of Jesus in plain, straightforward words and correcting the false teachings that were getting spread around. This verse encouraged the Colossians to come back together as one body of Christ, to put aside the things that were distracting them from worship and belief.

We need this verse today as much as the Colossians did, though for slightly different reasons. Too often we let all-too-human negativity creep into our worship time, tainting how we relate to other believers; soon enough we’re mentally regarding each other with spite and even hate, while presenting fake smiles to each other on Sunday mornings. (For example: letting local or national politics into the church building at all, which is a recipe for disaster.) Paul’s words in Colossians 3:15 remind us that church is about being a family of God, about being the body of Christ, and not about petty spats or jockeying for more powerful positions. When we remember that and allow God to work, wonderful things happen for which we can truly be thankful!

Colossians 2:16

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

In the Book of Colossians, Paul refuted a good number of false teachings regarding how to get closer to God and how to get saved. Many Colossian false preachers were telling their congregations stuff about “having secret knowledge of Jesus” to be saved, or “denying the body enough” to be saved, etc. They were also negatively judging those who did not have this “secret knowledge” of Jesus and did not deny themselves nourishment or come to every festival they held.

While these practices sound kinda Christian on the surface (denying the body’s fleshly desires, knowing all you can about Jesus, etc.), the key word there is “kinda”–it’s not really Christianity. You don’t have to possess secret knowledge to be saved, nor can you make yourself good enough through denying the flesh to be saved. All that it takes to be saved is accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for you, asking Jesus to come into your heart. Any other requirements are human-imposed only.

Paul wrote this letter many centuries ago, but it still applies to today’s situations, too. We all know Christians who judge other believers for not being in church every time the doors open, not “dressing up in Sunday best,” not listening to just Christian music, etc. Unfortunately, this kind of judgmental attitude is what the church has become best-known for in recent years.

With this letter to the Colossians, Paul also warns us not to judge each other by this kind of worthless worldly yardstick. We can’t know the state of someone else’s salvation, nor are we supposed to comment on it like we know better. Instead, we are to bolster each other up in faith, and focus more on the state of our own salvation rather than looking always at others. We don’t need to judge each other–in fact, we’re not fit to do so. God’s perfectly capable of doing that when the time comes.