Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
Colossians 3:1-10
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like
We are told to “put to death” sinful things lurking inside of us. That tells me we have been given the responsibility to do so. The way it appears, to begin the process of putting to death is to think “upwards” the things of heaven not the things of earth. We are told to get rid of seven things in verse 8-9. Dirty language is one. Get rid of it not just “wash our mouths with soap” (if that was possible) as we often hear.
Pastor,
Is so sad that message but is real problem specially among us “Christians”..
How many of us feel this way in the battle to tame our tongues? So, how can we win the battle over the tongue? How can we be like that out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. But the apostle Paul offers tongue-taming advice. To speak only the truth. After he says “do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up”. Is this easy? Not if we attempt to do it on our own. Thankfully, we have the Holy Spirit who helps us as we rely on Him. Amennnn!!!
The part that caught my eye was “do not be greedy part” we are taught to always come out on top at everything without thought to the less fortunate ones, Yahshua said “the poor you will always have with you” probably knowing our nature when it comes to sharing????, praying that HIS bride will come back to its ways like the “scroll of acts” where they were ONE in all, amein
I like the part about having to “put on your new nature” I think of this like clothes in the morning. Or when we go to a special event we get all dressed up to look our best. We put on a suit and new shoes and a tie. But do we operate the same as Christians? Do we put on our best when we walk out of the house or enter a situation that may be a tough one. Putting on our new nature is a choice and we should value these clothes the same way we value our fancy clothes or best outfit.
Excellent analogy in my opinion relating this to everyday life. Such a thing that we do everyday “wearing clothes” is used by the Spirit to teach us. May we indeed put on Christ everyday. How else can we confront the ups and downs of life. Thank you