Put Off & Put On

Last week, we finished up Colossians in our Bible study. We went over the last two chapters, one section being the "put off's" and "put on's" that Paul lists. These lists follow one of Paul's quotables: "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (3:2). I don't remember who it was that said it, but how profound! Every "put off" that Paul lists is a sin that starts in...the mind!!! That is why he prefaced it all with telling us to set our minds on heavenly things, because it will lead us away from sin and into Christ-likeness. Here is the list of "put off's" that grow out of the mind. Think about how each of these begin as thoughts. They don't even have to be fleshed out to be sinful.

~Immorality
~Impurity
~Passion
~Evil Desires
~Greed
~Anger
~Wrath
~Malice
~Slander
~Abusive Speech

All of the "put on's" that Paul lists also start with the mind. They start with thinking, "Because of what Christ has done for me, I will respond to Him by willfully being... And this is a way I can flesh it out."

~Compassion
~Kindness
~Humility
~Gentleness
~Patience
~Forebearance
~Forgiveness
~Love
~Peace

We are called to stop the first list dead in its tracks before it manifests itself outside the mind -- and preferrably reach a point where it does not even enter the mind (praise God, heaven is coming). The second list we are to train our minds to follow AND manifest outwardly towards others. We just started Philippians -- and to this hard task I add a word of encouragement...

You can do all things through Christ who gives you the strength to do what you should!

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Another very meaninful thought was based on the big picture of Colossians. The first two chapters tell us what Christ has done for us and Who He is. The last two chapters tell us what our response should be to Christ. It hit me...SO often I fall into the moral To Do checklist mentality. I do what is right because it is what is expected of me as a Christian. While it is one correct conclusion, it is not the supreme conclusion as to why I must live according to Scripture. Why I do what I do SHOULD be done as a loving, thankful response to Christ for what He did for me on Calvary. That should be my motivation for doing right. I am not a Christian because I am a good person. I am a CHRISTian because I identify with Christ, and it is because of His work that I even CAN be obedient to Him. Amazingly simple but profound thought, huh?

So forget your moral To Do list, and do what you do because you want to show Christ how thankful you are to Him for what He has done!