Put On The New You

OPENING PRAYER:

Lord, by your Word and Spirit, enlighten my understanding, purify my desires, and strengthen every right purpose in me.

READ: Colossians 3:5-11

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[a] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Footnotes

[a] Colossians 3:6 Some early manuscripts coming on those who are disobedient

Colossians 3:5-11

REFLECT:

Have you ever wanted a total makeover? There are so many TV shows about this! New wardrobe, new face, new body. What would you change overnight in your life if you could?

‘Put to death’ (v 5). No stronger image is possible to describe what our attitude needs to be about the changes needed as we seek to live for Jesus. Paul provides a depressingly familiar list of behaviors that seem to make up most of the daily news about celebrities and politicians. We need a total makeover in how we think, act, speak and handle the truth. The saying is true: ‘Old habits die hard.’

We are all skilled and familiar with anger, status-seeking, mis-truths, selfishness and prejudice. We need to unlearn these patterns and our lives to mimic Jesus. We are all work-in-progress in this regard (v 10). God loves us so much that he accepts us just the way we are. And that same love drives him to change us into the image of his Son. He could not leave us as we were. Prejudice is baked into our nature. We want to look down on someone in order to feel better about ourselves. Jesus blows that away. Verse 11 has been a challenge to Christians for centuries. It continues to be a challenge today.

APPLY:

What is dead in your life, but refuses to lie down? Bring before God that which needs to change. Ask forgiveness, trust in his power to change and ‘put on the new self’ (v10).

CLOSING PRAYER:

Spirit of God, press in on me and give me an awareness of those habits I need to remove from my life. Please make clear to me what I need to embrace.

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