Put off...Put On!

When Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he spends the first three chapters of his letter teaching them theological principals about life in Christ and life as a church. Then the last three chapters move more into application and practical daily living exhortations. Chapter 4 begins with a challenge to "live a life worthy of this calling you have received" (the calling that is explained in Ephesians 1-3). In Ephesians 4:20-24, Paul goes on to explain this process of living a life worthy of Jesus Christ. The Holman Christian Standard Version says that when you entered into personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you "took off your former way of life" AND you "put on the new man". Many times in our Christian walk I think we focus on taking off the former way of life OR putting on the new man. We will talk about getting the sin out of our life and working on resisting temptation or we will discuss how to become more patient or godly. Yet throughout the Bible, God seems to communicate that this process goes hand in hand. In Colossians 3, once again we see that we put to death our sinful nature SO THAT we can then clothe ourselves with Christ. Instead of merely taking off our sin, we must also choose to put on the nature of Christ. For example, when struggling with gossip or hurtful words, rather than choosing to try to just not say those things, instead I believe Paul would exhort us to instead put on graceful speech...to intentionally begin to look for ways to compliment and build up others around us. Today, as you ask the Lord to search you and know your heart, allow Him to reveal sin in your life AND how to immediately begin to put on the nature of Christ to replace the old man.