As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Watch out that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by the removal of the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
Therefore, do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food or drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the body belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, initiatory visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God. ~ Colossians 2:6-19
Don't let anyone tell you that you don't belong to God.
One of the things I've noticed lately in our ever deepening political and religious divide in this country, is to throw accusations against people for not being true Christians. Or faithful.
I'm not going to lie and say that I haven't had thoughts like that.
It's understandable why to an extent we have those thoughts. There are all kinds of things that can keep us "captive" today. All kinds of things that can tear us away from our thoughts of God.
All kinds of things we see in others that we believe tear their thoughts from God.
It's tempting to forget their connection to the faithful One. That God who is faithful captured us through the Cross.
Me. You. Them.
Even when we see something in others that troubles us, we have to remember that their relationship with the God that caught them is their relationship - not ours.
There is a lot of behavior out there that you might think worthy of judgment.
But be careful with lobbing judgments on people. They belong to God as well.
Holy God, you are ever faithful. Help me to be faithful in my love for your people. All your people! Amen