Colossians 3

Colossians 3

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry...

8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Even after accepting Christ as Savior, we retain our sin nature. We still struggle with fleshly desires and sinful tendencies. This passage in Colossians is all about ridding ourselves of those things.

It says put to death what is earthly in you. This is strong verbiage. I think we sometimes permit ourselves to live in these things saying, ‘oh, I struggle with this a little, but I try not to do it all the time.’ But that isn’t enough. Its not what God has for us. He says put it to death. Get rid of it- anything that is earthly.

What makes this list? Put to death: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness/idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying.

This list stretches to all facets of our lives. It doesn’t just say rid yourself of sexual immorality. It reaches to our thoughts and desires as well. There is no compromise here. It shines the light on covetousness, which is envy or jealousy, calling it idolatry! The passage also addresses our speech, our attitudes, and our conversation with others. Make no mistake, God cares about the way you are living!

Verses nine and ten sum this up saying put off the old self and all of its practices, and put on the new self which is being renewed in the image of its Creator. Be the new Creation God intends you to be and allow your actions, speech, attitude, and desires to reflect Christ, rather than the sinful man you were freed from.