Put off your old self

I want to take this time to teach you about your former way of life, to put off your old self, corrupted by its deceitful desires...

I want to give you several challenging phrases to think about while you read. You will take each of these phrases one day at a time. I remind you when you choose to surrender your heart to God. Your old self is crucified with Christ when you truly believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus reminds us that this kind of surrender is something each of us should do daily. We must put the old sinful life aside every day — "put off your old self" — and choose to live for Jesus in response to God's peace. Why is this "putting off" so important? Because our way of life before being united with Christ was full of sinful influences and the deceitful desires that the evil one seeks to reawaken in us. So, as we begin this new year, let's make it our spiritual habit to consciously offer ourselves to the Lord daily as we seek to live peacefully under his lordship.

...and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. —

Remember, our conversation comes from my challenge to put off your old way of life Above I challenged you to offer yourselves to God to be made new in your ways of thinking and serving. One of the most significant decisions we face at the beginning of each day is what we will wear. Well, no matter what we choose for our physical clothing, let's make sure we choose to put on the new person God re-made us to be, clothed with peace as our new self-committed to live for God "in true righteousness and holiness." Only the "garments of salvation" and the "robe of God's peace" will fit us eternally! So the challenge is to find your own phrase from these writings and hold it up as a banner of your new walk of peace that cannot be altered.