a hard concept..

In my church small group we've been going through Colossians. This week we studied 2:8 which says:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

We discussed what it means to be taken captive through philosophy, deception, traditions, and principles of the world. Then we came to a new thought pattern for me.. How often do we as believers do things or not do things and feel guilty over them? The example brought up in discussion was "Why do I feel guilty for not always praying for my friends?" A flow of question flood from this:

What has led to this feeling?
Am I using my time wisely or am I wasting time?
Do I think that the Holy Spirit is convicting me or am I convicting myself?

The last question really made me think, how often do I convict myself? As Christians how many times do we think that God loves us more or less by our actions? How often do we think that we've really screwed up and God doesn't want to hear our prayers? As Paul says, "May it never be so!!!" What Christ did for us on the cross is the only thing that saves us. We can NEVER earn God's love or merit. It is a gift and when God looks at us, He doesn't see us, He sees Christ.
I think this gets us back to the verse. A philosophy and deception from the world is salvation by works. Here's a song that lyrics have been a comfort to me when I feel like I'm trying to prove myself to God. May it encourage you also.