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Put Off the Old Man with His Deeds
by Elizabeth Marks But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Colossians 3:8-11 NKJV Its easy to point out others sin, isnt? Did you know when you point out others sin youre really pointing out your sin that you see in them? Thats why its so easy to spot. You know it well, because you deal with it yourself. I heard a pastor teaching one time say You want to point out someones flaws? Go ahead. Just remember, when you point at them, youve got three fingers pointing back at you. Thats good to remember. Jesus taught us to deal with our own issues before trying to help others in Matthew 7:3-5 And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, Let me remove the speck from your eye; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers eye. How can we possibly give advice about something, if we ourselves have never go through it ourselves? You can, but most likely people wont listen because youre not creditable. Jesus taught us to consider first our own state. He reminds us to remember where we came from, to keep us humble. When advice is given humbly, the receiving person is much more likely to hear the message. If you have been there and can share your experience of how God helped you, then you bring hope to the other persons situation. Paul is saying something similar in todays verse. When he said you yourselves are to put off all these, I think he was referring to your own personal conduct. We can only control our own bodies, mind and tongue, not other peoples. Notice the action in the saying? Its deliberate. A choice one must make. A conscience effort to put away all that would lead to death. Once weve put off the old man, we then put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to Him who created him. In other words, the new man is a spirit-led individual who receives knowledge from God. Romans 12:2 says we are to be renewed in the mind by allowing God to change the way we think. We do that when we choose to walk by the spirit and not be the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16). In conclusion, we must remember that Christ is all and in all. That means that it is by His power that I am able to do all things (Philippians 4:13). Copyright Elizabeth Marks, author of ThinkOnIt Devotions, has a heart for encouraging believers with God's Word. Please visit http://www.ThinkOnItDevotions.com for more devotions, bible studies, book reviews and more! Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |