Bible Passage: “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 3:9-10 NIV)
Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:5-17
Most men have scars from the constant battles of their interior war.
The same contested ground of our lives bears the marks of the ongoing struggles. Patterns resurface. Temptations circle back around. Anger, lust, apathy. These and hundreds more show up to challenge us again and again.
You’ve hated it; fought it; confessed it, repented. Maybe you’ve seen growth, openly to yourself, fighting the same battle yet again.
I’ve asked the question; maybe you have too. After years of struggle, we wonder:
Am I actually growing, becoming more like Christ?
Will I always struggle like this with these same things?
What Paul says to men like this is words that are so incredible, they’re nearly meaningless.
Or rather, the meaning is so profound, it’s difficult to understand, let alone apply.
Paul does not condemn, scolding for failure, nor does he offer inspiration to dig deeper and work harder, find that extra 10% (coaches, take note).
Rather, as he has so many times in his letter to Colossae, he states a reality that transcends our limited experience.
“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 3:9-10 NIV).
Have taken off. Have put on. This happened. Past tense.
When we are born in Christ, something changes at the level of identity. That makes sense because we are talking about new birth.
The old sinful self, at odds with God, was stripped off. Old, ripped, dirty, smelly clothes. A new self was put on. Not just new then, but one being progressively renewed into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Yes, the fight is real, and it is intense. But the strategy and the foundation have shifted.
We are not sinful men trying to train ourselves into something better.
We are new.
We have a new nature; the Spirit lives in us. We are simply learning to live in the reality of who we actually are. Our battle against sin is not to secure a new identity. We fight because we are different.
That changes how we fight. We are still intense and desperate in our efforts, but not because the outcome depends on it; it is because our passion is bent on being like Jesus.
That passion is fueled by what the Spirit has already done and continues to do. The fire in our fight is fueled by the consuming holy nature of God in us.
The old self has been stripped off. The new self snugged on.
Live like it’s true. Because it is.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for making me a new creation. Thank You that my transformation is assured and that You are behind it. Help me to live as a new creation. Amen.
Reflection: Do you feel like a new creation? What parts of your life feel old and worn out? How could you embrace the truth about who God says you are, despite how you feel?
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