Do you know, understand, and appreciate – YOU? Do you know your identity? Is this important to and for you to be who you are? If you are a Christian then the resounding answer should be… I’m in the process of discovering me! Colossians 3: 1-10 gives us much to think about as our new identity in Him.
“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (v.3)
“But now you yourselves are to put off all these things all these:
anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with
his deeds and have put on the new man WHO IS RENEWED in
knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” (v. 8-10)
These scriptures give a picture of the old identity and the new one. And if your concern is that you won’t be able to walk in your newness… you are correct if you believe you have to do this alone. Never forget that you constantly have someone with you to help you become your best you and will equip you to continue to fight your enemy, the devil. Look to the fact that it is in the image of Him (the Lord) who has created you.
Also remember that if He tells you to be or do (fill in the blank) that YOU are able to be or do what is necessary. We have to take off the old, to rid ourselves of those thoughts, actions, words that deny who we are becoming. And then we can put on the new to replace what was. One point that became very clear to me was that we have to come to the Lord – first – to confess our old self and seek His help in becoming our new self. One danger is that we must distance ourselves from the old and not attempt to live in both worlds. Never works. Returning to who we are because it is a known and the new isn’t, is not safety. Becoming your new is never one and done. It is always a continuing process.
What if you fail? Simple. Acknowledge it, purpose to not repeat, make any ‘restitution’ that’s applicable, and move on. We always have 1John 1:9-2:1 as our method of restoration. He knows what we face which is why the Holy Spirit has been sent to us to aid us in our journey (John 14:16). Sooo… what is this new self? Colossians 3: 12-17
“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies,
kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another
and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another;
even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” (v. 12)
“But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of
perfection.” (v. 14)
These verses in Colossians 3:1-17 give us a vivid example of who and what the new identity is. Ephesians 6 and 1Corinthians 5:17-22 are also some of the teachings on who we are, our new identity and what’s been prepared for us to be able to continue on our journey to becoming all that we can be.
