TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them. But now, you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.
Colossians 3:1–9
DEVOTIONAL
by Elder Chris Beltran
You can identify someone or what someone does by the type of clothes he/she wears. A policeman wears a uniform. School and office uniforms identify which school or company someone belongs to. Sometimes not wearing the right clothes can have consequences; for example, guards will not let you inside the premises. As a basketball player, I wear a jersey that features a number. My basketball number since high school was 10. Ten reminds me of perfection when it comes to high school quizzes. Remember, 10/10? Thus, that uniform no. 10 reminds me to try to be the best I can be in every game.
According to Paul, our clothing shows our attitude and actions; it must reflect our heavenly position and should mark us as the citizens of heaven. Can people tell that we are citizens of heaven by the clothing we do and do not wear—by the attitudes and actions we exhibit?
Jesus said, “By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35). Many Christians look no different from the world; instead of being heavenly, we are worldly. Paul called the believers in Corinth worldly because their attitudes and actions did not reflect their new identity in Christ and their new position in heaven.
Today, we are exploring clothing (attitudes and actions) that believers should not be wearing.
- Believers should not wear the clothes of Sexual Sins: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (v. 5). Paul firmly instructed us to eliminate, get rid of, delete, and put to death our earthly nature. If something is dead, then there should not be any signs of life. There must not be any signs of sexual sins in our lives–thoughts, words, and deeds.
- Believers should not wear clothes of wrong attitudes and evil speech: “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (v. 8). If anger is not addressed immediately, it may turn to rage—an outburst of uncontrollable anger. Then, malice will follow, which is an evil desire to harm others. It includes actions or intentions to get someone back for what they have done, sometimes at any cost. Then, slander and tearing down others with filthy words will start. Often, we deceive ourselves by thinking that we can fully know someone else’s heart and intentions. “You did this because you’re jealous!” Remember, only God can honestly know someone else’s heart and intentions.
- Believers should not wear clothes of deception: “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices” (v. 9). Many think that Christians do not need to be told to stop committing sins. However, Paul implied that Corinth Christians were still committing and being tempted to sin. Many were falling into lust and anger. They were again deceiving one another. Deception should not be part of believers’ clothing, but sadly it often is.
- Believers must hate sin to get rid of it: (v. 5). To “put to death” means to “kill.” For a person to kill or destroy somebody or something, one must have a strong feeling of hate or animosity. This is the reason why most people never take off the old clothes of sin; they don’t hate it enough. Ask a Christian who cheats, lies, deceives, steals, and gossips for the reason why he/she is doing it. It’s because the person is ok with it. These sins are kept around just in case they are needed. However, if one hated these sins (sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, idolatry), one would be killed and put to death. We must heed Paul’s admonition to hate sin enough that it will not be a part of us.
Tomorrow, we will talk about the proper clothes (attitudes and actions) we, believers in Christ, should be wearing.
REFLECTION
Why do sexual immorality and those other sins Paul mentioned still hang around us? Aren’t we willing to hate it so much that we will do anything to get rid of it? As faithful and authentic followers of Christ, we must take off these clothes and put to death all these sins as they should never be part of our Christian life.
PRAYER
Lord, we often put You inside the box of our views. We view You as a God who loves. We forgot that you are also a holy, pure, and righteous judge who hates sin. Today, Your words have said it very clearly, that we should put to death all these things that hurt You. Help us to realize if we are still entertaining these pet sins because this means we do not love You with our everything. Empower us once again to rid ourselves of all the sins in our lives, in Jesus’ name, amen.
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