Colossians 3:1 tells believers that, because they have been raised with Christ, they should keep looking toward what belongs to God’s world rather than being absorbed in what belongs to this one. The verse is a pastoral instruction from the apostle Paul, traditionally identified as its author, to the Christian community in Colossae, a city in what is now western Turkey. Paul writes it to people who already trust Jesus and need to live that out in daily priorities.
If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
Colossians 3:1 (WEB)
What Colossians 3:1 Means
The verse begins with “If then,” which tells you it is a conclusion drawn from what Paul has just said. In the chapter before, he describes believers as having died to their old way of life and been made alive in Christ. Because of that, the instruction is not a demand to earn a new status. It is a call to act in line with a status already given.
“Seek the things that are above” means to direct your desires, attention and effort toward God’s kingdom, the realm where Christ reigns. The image is of a person reaching upward, not because heaven is a place to escape to, but because that is where their true life is anchored. The verse does not promise that you will never face worry or hardship. It describes where your deepest longing should point, and it trusts that a heart set on Christ will be shaped by him over time.
The closing phrase, “seated on the right hand of God,” signals honor, authority and completed work. Paul is saying that the Christ you are meant to seek is not distant or defeated but exalted and at rest in his Father’s presence. That is the reason the upward gaze is worth the effort.
The Context of Colossians 3:1
Colossians is a letter Paul wrote while in prison, addressed to a church he had not personally founded but that had been taught by his coworker Epaphras. The congregation was facing teaching that elevated human philosophies, ritual rules and angelic powers above the sufficiency of Christ. Paul’s answer is that Christ is supreme, and that believers who belong to him must not return to lives governed by lesser powers.
Read in its surrounding verses, Colossians 3:1 is the hinge of a larger argument. Verses 2 through 4 say the same truth from different angles: set your mind on what is above, not on earthly things, because your life is hidden with Christ and will one day be revealed with him. Verses 5 onward then describe what it looks like to put to death the habits of the old self. So the call to seek what is above is the foundation for the practical holiness that follows.
Key Phrases in Colossians 3:1
Colossians 3:3
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
(WEB)
This verse, which follows directly in Paul’s argument, explains why the upward gaze makes sense: your life is hidden with Christ in God. It shows that the call to seek what is above rests on a settled union with him rather than on constant effort to prove yourself.
Romans 6:4
We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
(WEB)
Paul’s teaching in Romans describes baptism as participation in Christ’s burial and resurrection, so that believers walk in newness of life. This passage supplies the background for the phrase “raised together with Christ” and shows that the new life Colossians 3:1 calls you to pursue is grounded in this same death and rising.
A Short Prayer From Colossians 3:1
Lord, you have raised me to life with Christ, and I thank you that this is not just a hope but something already true. Often my mind wanders to what is urgent and loud, and I forget where my real life is hidden. Turn my heart upward today. Show me the things that matter to you, and help me to set my desires on them rather than on what fades.
Where I am tempted to chase approval, comfort or control, remind me that Christ is seated in your presence and that my life is secure in him. Shape my choices this week so that they reflect the one I am seeking. Amen.
