Put It On!
Who gets dressed? And at night too, in our pj’s? Who comes home from being out all dressed in nice clothes and puts on their favorite comfy clothes… because they feel so good?
Do you remember how last time we talked about how God is doing a new thing? When we believe in Christ, we become a new creature. This newness is something we can practice to “put on.” We should “wear” this newness and everyday we get to put in on.
(Check out “We are New” here: https://kellee5.wixsite.com/website/single-post/we-are-new)
“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.” (Colossians 3:9-10)
But here’s the thing, God doesn’t just call us to put on the new, He tells us some other things to put on. He also tells us to put off some things.
But before we talk about what we should put off and put on? Why do you think He uses the example of clothing? Because some of the verses even say clothe yourself.
I think there are a couple of reasons why. One is because we understand what it is to get dressed and to put things on and take things off. It’s relatable.
The other reason is, we do it often. We get dressed a lot. And this can be a reminder for us to do it often. Because, as humans, we forget.
Let’s first talk about what we are to take off or put off.
Take off the old
“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.” (Colossians 3:9)
“[You were taught] to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.” (Ephesians 4:22)
Take off lies
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” (Ephesians 4:25)
Take off darkness
“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:12)
Take off sin, wickedness and filthiness
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:11)
“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21)
Take of deceitfulness, evil, slander, and hypocrisy
“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” (1 Peter 2:1)
God tells us to take all of that off. We can envision taking off an old ratty t-shirt, and putting it in the trash.
Here’s what we get to put on…
Put on Jesus
“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh” (Romans 13:14)
Put on righteousness, holiness, purity, humility
“We need, therefore, to put on the robe of righteousness, holiness, purity and humility so that we will not be found spiritually naked in God's sight.” (Revelation 16:15; 3:17,18)
Put on the light
“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:12)
Put on the armor of God
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. . . . Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.” (Ephesians 6:11,14)
“But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
Put on love
“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:14)
Put on compassionate hearts, kindness, patience, humility, meekness
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12)
Now, don’t be overwhelmed by the putting on and putting off, because Jesus does it ALL!
You see, the moment we make the choice to believe that Jesus is our savior, that He died for our sins, and that He rose again…some really cool things happen. We are given all these things. And we’re told to put them on, just like we’re getting dressed.
But because we’re not in heaven yet, we’re still here in our earthly bodies and we can still sin sometimes. We don’t always mean to, but we do. God wants us to practice putting these things on and this will help us everyday become more like Him. And the Holy Spirit will help us. Now we won’t do it perfectly. That’s why it’s like putting clothes on because we need to do it everyday and we just need to practice it. Sometimes we’ll mess up. So, we learn and then we take off the old and put it on the new again, and again, and again. Until one day we won’t mess up as much. The clothes will become like our favorite sweatpants and we‘ll enjoy wearing them because they feel good.
Have you ever worn new shoes before? You’re so excited to get new shoes, but they don’t feel as comfortable as your old ones. Right? Almost every step you take you’re reminded that you have new shoes on. It’s not that they hurt, they just feel different. But because they feel different, you can tell you have new shoes on.
As you keep on wearing them though, soon your new shoes feel good. You won’t even remember them feeling new. They fit just right. They almost feel like they are fitted perfectly to your feet.
Well, every day that we put these new things on that God has told us to and we practice them…they become more and more comfortable to wear.They become fitted to us. Soon, right before our eyes, we become more and more like Christ. And He fits us, perfectly.
So we need to put these things on everyday. We will mess up and sometimes we put the things on we should take off. But we learn and grow and keep practicing putting on all the new.
And guess what happens? We begin to shine, like no-one else’s business. We look just like Jesus!
Blooming Challenge: Go put all that on. It’s yours for the taking, for the practicing, for God to work down in the depths of your beautiful heart.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put into its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
Encouraged reading:
Colossians 3:9-10
Ephesians 4:22
Ephesians 4:25
Romans 13:12
Hebrews 12:11
1 Peter 2:1
Romans 13:14
Revelation 16:15; 3:17,18
Ephesians 6:11, 14
1 Thessalonians 5:8
Colossians 3:14
Colossians 3:12
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