Something I should know, yet, had to “learn again”. It’s the lessons you learn along the way that leave an impact. It’s the journey, not the destination.
Resolve one area of your life – find another to fix. Resolve another area in your life – find another to fix. Repeat ad infinitum.
For me, some of the things to fix looked an awful like a list I once saw in the Bible. I realized I had pride popping up, and selfishness, and anger, etc.
Ew. Start cleanup mode.
But then it hit me – these characteristics or part of something referred to in the Bible as the “Old Man”. That’s right! I exclaimed, God talks about this stuff!
God also talks about “putting off”. “Putting off” is just that – casting something off. Dropping it cold. Leaving it at the door. Put these two together and you get a formula for radical change.
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
— Colossians 3:8-10
That’s right – God talks about this stuff!
I was so excited. It seemed like I had a task in front of me – changing all he bad areas of my life – that would (basically) take me the rest of my life to accomplish. And then I would die. 🙂
But God’s way is a much better solution. In fact, because of Jesus Christ, it’s the only viable solution that will actually work. That’s important because if there was no “shortcut” to renewal, we’d all be in a bad spot.
Putting Off and Putting On will result in the transformation to behave like Christ and better identify in Christ.
Wow, simple. God figured it out. I knew it, but didn’t really understand it. But now I’m visiting it again.
Good good good stuff.
Truth Seeker 