Put off ... Put on

Put Off ... Put On

{too be read like "wax on, wax off}

Colossians 3:8-10

⁸ But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, ¹⁰ and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—

This passage is a very familiar passage to most.

I was going to write on something else, but through different conversations I’ve had with other women the past couple of months and through my own fight with my sin, this is a topic that has continually come up.

So many of us struggle with our sin, we try to fight it, we try and try to put it off to honor God, and yet we continually forget the other part, to put on righteousness. Not that we aren’t pursuing righteousness and obeying God, but in our struggle against a certain sin we can sometimes forget what needs to be put on as we put off that particular sin.

In Colossians 3, Paul is talking to believers saying, if you have been raised with Christ than we need to be setting our minds on things above (v. 2) and laying aside our sinful ways in which we all once walked (v. 5-7) and putting on the new self (v.12-15) letting the word of Christ richly dwell within you (v. 16)

We know this! This is 101 of being a believer. So why, when we are trying so hard to put off wicked thoughts, gossip, lying, anxious thoughts, fear, worry, selfishness, pride, lustful thoughts, do we forget that we are to actively be putting something on?

How does a liar stop lying? By not lying? No, by actively going out and telling the truth. How do you stop being proud? By just not thinking highly of yourself? No, by going out and pursuing others humbly in love.

Most all of these sins start in our mind. 

We can’t just stop being anxious, lustful, proud with our thoughts. We have to be replacing those thoughts with something else and then acting out those things.

Matthew 6:21 “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” The greek word for “heart” is kardia, meaning intention, mind, character, your will.

“Focusing on earthly treasures produces earthly affection”-John MacArthur

Whatever your focus is on will be what your mind thinks, and that is how you start to act and respond. It becomes your character and your will on this earth.

So we need to start by realigning our thoughts. Like Colossians 3:16 says “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you”

Some ways to help your to not only put off but also to put on.

1.     Pray. Ask God to help you.  And sometimes we {I!} can become selfish in our prayers, just praying for our struggles and ourselves. Pray with thanksgiving to God, praise Him for who He is and what He has done.  And then pray for others and their struggles.

2.     Fill your mind with right things. Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” All these things are found in God’s Word. 

Read your bible, meditate, memorize these things daily.

3.     Practice. When you fill your mind with godly things it will lead to practical living.  John MacArthur wrote “God’s Word cultivates the godly attitudes, thoughts, and actions that will keep trials and temptations from overwhelming us”

Martha Peace does an excellent job in her books of giving charts of sinful thinking, what scripture says about it, and what right thinking looks like. I encourage you to read her books.

Damsels in Distress

Attitudes of a Transformed Heart

Becoming a Titus 2 Woman