How do we throw off the things that hinder us and the sin that so easily entangles us; or as Solomon puts it, how do we “catch the foxes?”
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature….” read Colossians 3:5-10
How do we “take off the old self” and “put on the new self?”
There are several verb phrases used to describe the idea of getting rid of the old self: “put to death,” “rid yourselves,” “do not,” “take off your old self.” From these verbs, we can see that we are responsible to take action to turn away from our old way of life and turn to a new way of living. All these verbs also describe a complete action. We are not to get rid of part or some of our sin, but rather to turn away completely from our old way of doing things. The words also are demanding us to turn away from these things: “you must rid yourselves.” We are not to tolerate sin in our lives. When God’s Spirit reveals sin, we are to immediately repent of it and ask the Spirit to empower us to put on the new self. Not only are we to give up an old way of doing things, but we are to adopt a new way of behaving.
In verse 10, we see that it is important to gain knowledge from the Word of how God wants us to live so that we will truly reflect the image of our Creator. Daily reading the Word will allow our hearts and minds to be renewed and transformed. From Colossians, we see that our responsibility is to turn away from sin and repent of it, read the Word to learn God’s will, and then seek to live in a new godly way.
Read Galatians 5:16-23 to give you more insight into how to “put on the new self.”
What part do you play in “putting on the new self?” What part does the Holy Spirit play?
Our part is repentance and surrender to a godly life. Remember that repentance is not only confessing sin, but then turning completely away from our sin and asking God to change us to have holy thoughts and behaviors. God’s part is to fill and empower us through His Spirit to have victory over sin and live in holiness.
Prayerfully put these things into practice today, dear sister and stay tuned for more...
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