A recent Bible study I lead at an apartment building was considering Colossians 3. The passage we were focusing on begins with a call to "...keep seeking the things above.." (3:1). We spent the evening discussing the implications that Paul gives us for having a heavenly mind in a world that only thinks of the moment at hand.
So many things that occur in our lives are frustraed because we do not have an eternal perspective. The apostle reminds us that we have died and our life is now hidden with Christ, in God. Christians are not settling for a remodel job! We have had a completely new creation work done on our lives. Our mind and our heart has been changed by God.
As a result of this God-driven change, we are told to avoid immorality, anger, slander, etc. And, in it's place, we are told to bear with one another, forgive one another, and love one another. The result will be peace (3:15). Too many people are waiting for peace BEFORE the obey. Obedience always comes first.
Several years ago a young, single mother came to me after attending an outreach at a local church. She told me she had gone forward, confessed her sinfulness and trusted Christ. When I spoke to her about obedience in baptism, she quickly told me, "I don't feel like it." I was amazed and responded to her, "Dear, God doesn't care how you feel. He wants obedience to His will." Obviously, she went away a rather disturbed person and to my knowledge never obeyed the Lord. Peace is the result of obedience and doing God's will is not an "elective course" for the Christian. We had died to the old nature and are now alive in Christ. Now is the time to let Christ rule in our lives, not because it benefits us (it does do that) but because a Righteous and Holy God deserves our obedience.