“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
Colossians 3:5-10 NIV
Notice what these verses imply, Put to death what is earthly inside of you. Paul wants us to do something violent. Christians aren’t typically supposed to be a violent people. Christ was not violent, but this is the one area where we are supposed to be violent. We need to kill what is earthly inside of us. We need to attack it, pulverize it, and destroy whatever is earthly inside of us. So let’s look at this more closely and ask ourselves what is it that’s earthly inside of us, why would we kill it, and how do we kill it? Paul goes on in verse 5 to describe what is earthly, Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness. Then, he describes covetousness as idolatry. Also, if we skip ahead to verse 8 we see that there is another list, Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk. Finally, in verse 9 he says, Do not lie to one another. These earthly things seem like things that everyone around us is involved in. We all struggle with coveting, getting angry, and lying and it will take a lot of work to put these things to death. In this text we have seen that we must put to death what is earthly in us. We must rid ourselves of all evil practices and immorality and commit ourselves to what Christ teaches. This way of life is given to us by Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit. It is our responsibility to display love, faith, and hope. The more we know of Christ and his work, the more we are being changed to be like Him. Because this process is lifelong, we must never stop learning and obeying. We must be willing to give when others take, to love when others hate, to help when others abuse and use our time to serve others. We cannot let these things live inside of us any longer. We need to constantly evaluate our hearts and study the Word to let it cut us and bring us closer to the image of God, as we were created to be!!!
Father thank You for this day and Your amazing mercy and grace. Lord pour out Your abundant blessings and let them flow over my friend and family today. Lord help us live in the light of Your truth about who we are, that our old nature has been put off, with its baggage of practices, and that we have put on a new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Lord help us to make no distinctions regarding origins, heredity, or traditions, but to see You in all believers. Lord help us to let You be in us, to transform and renew every fiber of our being and of our relationships. Lord use my friend to love others as You love them today. Daddy we love you amen. Be a blessing. Love you !
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