There is one quality in this long list of fruits in Colossians 3 that should also be part of a believer’s life, and that is thanksgiving.   So important is this quality that Paul mentions it three times in vs. 15-17.   As we “let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, be thankful,” as we “let the word of Christ dwell in us richly through teaching and admonishment…  “Let us give thanks in hearts to God,” with singing and praise. 

Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:13-16, that we “are the salt of the earth… and the light of the world.”   We as believers are described as “a city set on a hill, that people may see our good works and glorify God in heaven.”   The idea here is that our lives through Christ should have influence on the world around us for God’s glory.  

Unless we have an encounter with the living Christ, that He is risen, that we have a hope for the future, we will often be filled with unbelief and even hardness of heart.  That was the predicament that the disciples found themselves in in Mark 16:14, when Christ revealed Himself to them.