Focus: Dirty Rags

Colossians 3:9-10

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. ESV

Think about the dirtiest, sweatiest, and just plain most gross you’ve ever been. It may have been after your parents had you work in the yard in the middle of the summer, or maybe it was after the longest, hardest practice of the year. Whatever the situation, your clothes were probably filthy and smelled absolutely awful. There’s no better feeling in that situation than getting a nice shower and putting on clean clothes. It’s just flat out refreshing. 

The old self⎯Paul’s way of talking about a life before Christ⎯is like those filthy clothes. You don’t go out on a date in the clothes you wore to work in the yard. You don’t get in bed after practice without showering and changing. (OK, some of you might and that’s just plain foul.) In the same way, once you have a relationship with Christ, you don’t keep living the same way. You get rid of the old way of doing things and the old way of thinking about things. Your new approach and mindset are centered on Christ. This is a process though; it doesn’t happen all at once. Day by day we grow closer to Christ and become more and more like Him. Our mindset, actions, and way of life are renewed each and every day. 

• What in your life is a holdout from your “old self”? What habits, friends or thoughts that you need to let go of are weighing down your life with Christ?