What Makes a Life Complete? Sarah Jones, in an article for The Independent, suggests that a life is complete if you can answer five profound questions about yourself. These questions, which probe into passion, happiness, optimism, suffering, and emotional health, are valuable and reflective, but do they truly define the completeness of a life? What if we find ourselves answering those questions and still feel incomplete? What if we are happy, but our happiness harms others? What if we smile often but still feel empty inside?

While these questions may help assess certain aspects of our lives, I believe Christianity offers a deeper, more profound answer to what makes a life complete.

Every human being has an innate desire for completeness. We long to finish what we start, to reach our full potential, and when something is left unfinished, we often feel regret or a sense of lost possibility. It’s built into us to want a complete life.

The Apostle Paul, who wrote a letter to the church at Colossae, experienced a sense of completeness despite being single and living a life of sacrifice. In his writings, Paul provides key insights into how we can experience true completeness. He describes his own life as one of "toiling and struggling with all the energy that God provides," rejoicing in his suffering for others' sake. But what is the core of this completeness that Paul speaks of?

In Colossians 1:25, Paul shares the mission that has given his life meaning and completeness:
"I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to His saints."

Paul’s work was to make the word of God fully known — to reveal the mystery that had been hidden for generations: Christ in you, the hope of glory.

A life is only complete when it understands what the Word of God is fully about. The "mystery" Paul refers to is the good news that all creation, all humanity, and all history are leading toward one ultimate purpose: a redeemed relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, the Supreme One, and the ultimate answer to the longing for completeness in every soul.

For Paul, true completeness means recognizing that God’s plan has always been to bring together people from every tribe, tongue, and nation — both Jew and Gentile — into he sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus.

To feel complete, to experience fulfillment, is to come into a relationship with God through Jesus. Without this relationship, we will always feel incomplete. There will always be a sense that something is missing. We can pursue other things — success, family, adventure, material wealth — but none of these will ever fill the deep, eternal void within us that only God can satisfy.

Why do we sometimes feel incomplete? Perhaps it is because we have wandered away from the priority of our relationship with God, or perhaps we haven't yet fully believed that He alone can complete us. As C.S. Lewis once said, "God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."

We all experience seasons where we feel incomplete, lost, or disconnected. The reason for this may be that we are not understanding the true purpose of life, or we are looking for completeness in things that will never satisfy.

Christianity proposes that completeness is found in Christ alone. If we seek fulfillment in career success, family approval, or material gains, we will find ourselves constantly chasing something that cannot bring lasting satisfaction. These things are good, but they are not meant to be central to our identity. We were made to be loved by God and to love Him in return. When we put other things in the center, we live in a perpetual state of incompleteness.

In Colossians 1:28, Paul writes, "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ."

To be "mature" in Christ is another way of saying "complete." True maturity comes from knowing Christ more deeply through His Word. The process of growing in knowledge of Christ — His wisdom, His love, His grace — leads us to a more complete life. Paul warns the Colossians to avoid false teachings that would lead them away from Christ. Many things in life may seem promising, but they will never complete us. Spiritual experiences or practices disconnected from Christ will ultimately leave us wanting.

We are called to find maturity and completeness in knowing Christ, through reading the Scriptures, studying His life, and understanding His character. This is the way to real transformation, to true completeness.

If you find it hard to read or understand the Bible, there are many ways to grow. Join a Bible study group, listen to sermons, attend classes, or partner with others who can help you grow. There is no shortcut to knowing Christ deeply, but through His Word, we discover the riches of His grace, wisdom, and love.

In Colossians 1:24, Paul writes, "Now, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, the church."

What Paul means here is not that Christ’s atoning work on the cross was incomplete, but that the church's mission requires sacrifice. Paul himself was called to suffer, to toil, and to struggle for the sake of building up the body of Christ. He saw his suffering as part of the redemptive work of Christ — a work that would bring completeness to the church, the body of believers.

We too are called to endure hardship, to make sacrifices, and to struggle for the good of others. God may ordain suffering for us, not for our destruction, but for the strengthening of the church and the expansion of His Kingdom.

Lastly, if you feel incomplete today, the answer is simple: turn to Jesus. Repentance is the way we come to experience true completeness. We may be looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places, but Jesus offers us a way to return to Him, to be made whole.

Imagine life as a 1,000-piece puzzle. You might think there are pieces missing, that your life is incomplete. But when you turn to Jesus, He takes that final piece — the piece you could never find on your own — and He makes you whole. Through Him, you can be made complete.

A life is truly complete when it is rooted in the relationship with God that is made possible through Jesus Christ. Paul’s life was marked by a desire to know Christ fully, to endure suffering for the sake of others, and to lead others to the completeness found in Jesus. If we want to live a complete life, we must pursue God above all else, knowing that He alone can fill the deepest longings of our hearts. Jesus is the answer to the mystery of our existence — He completes us.

If you feel incomplete today, turn to Him by faith. Repent of turning to other things for fulfillment, and allow Jesus to make you whole. He is the key to a complete life.