Have you ever bought something you knew was counterfeit? I’m ashamed to admit I have. A few years ago, I brought home some shoes for my son from Southeast Asia. The next day he came home from school and angrily said, “Dad, these things fell apart!”

I glanced down. “They look fine to me.” He raised up his right foot, and the sole of his shoe was missing. The top part was still on his foot, but the bottom was completely gone. It had fallen off on his way to school, so he had walked around all day on his sock!

Counterfeit goods will never make you happy.

That’s exactly the message Paul delivered to the Colossians. There were people in the church at Colossae who were trying to sell counterfeit goods. Counterfeit religion. Counterfeit success. Counterfeit happiness.  So Paul told the Colossians, “You don’t need to buy the counterfeit version, because you already have the genuine item. You have Christ! And Christ is all.”

We know that, but still, we’re continually tempted to buy counterfeits. We’re always asking ourselves, “What’s going to make my life better? What’s going to make me better?” And we come up with answers like…

Our Circumstances.
We say, if I had more money, then my life would be better. If I had a different job, then I would be happy. If I had more free time to do what I really love, then my life would be better. If I could change the way I look, then I’d be happy. If I could get married, life would be great. If I could be married to a different, then life would be great. If I had kids who were less hyper, then I’d be happy … or if I had kids who were more active and didn’t just sit around and watch Netflix, then I’d be good.

But if you’ve ever left a job for a new job, you know you just trade the problems at your old job for different problems at the new job. And anyone who’s ever won the lottery will tell you that more money won’t give you a better life. According to the National Endowment for Financial Education more than seventy percent of people who win big in the lottery end up bankrupt within seven years. Seventy percent! Changing our circumstances is a counterfeit path to happiness. So is changing…

Our Behavior.
We believe, if I went on a diet and started exercising, then my life would be better. If I learned to bite my tongue and stop saying everything that’s going through my head, then I would get more respect, and things would be better. If I gave more away, then maybe I’d see more blessings in my life.

All of those things would be great things to do. But when we’re just focused on changing our external behavior and not your heart, then as soon as we give one thing up, then something else rises up to take its place. A while ago I was meeting with a man who was dependent on alcohol. He was able to give up drinking cold turkey, but as soon as he quit drinking, suddenly he became addicted to pornography. Something that had never been an issue before in his life. Changing our external behavior is a counterfeit path to a better life. So is boosting…

Our Self-Esteem.
We think, if I just learned to believe in myself more … if I just visualized my goals better … if I just learned to forgive myself … if I stopped being so hard on myself … then my life would be better. … The Bible says to love God as I love myself, so I need to learn to love myself more.

The problem is that none of us love ourselves too little. Ask any evolutionary biologist and he’ll tell you that everything we do in life is to serve ourselves. We love ourselves too much! We believe in ourselves too much. So boosting your self-esteem and your confidence is a counterfeit path to improvement.

That’s why Paul says, “Don’t pursue the counterfeits. You already have the genuine item! You already have “riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3).

You already have the greatest treasure in the universe. Don’t settle for anything less.