Colossians 3:8-9

Colossians 3:8-9

And now, take away all these things: anger, rage, hateful feelings, blasphemy, and obscene speech out of your mouths.  Do not lie into one another, while stripping of the obsolete man with its activity …

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul gives us a neat list of words.  I like to divide this list into two categories.  The first category deals with the fury within.  Anger, rage, and hateful feelings are all things we feel within us towards other people.  These feelings destroy community.  These feelings break relationship.  But these are all feelings within us.  They are also feelings that if we are not careful they can get out of hand quickly.  They are like a fire that once it catches can consume everything if we are not careful.

Do you wrestle with these emotions?  How do you work to keep them in check?

Second Thought:

The second half of this list are words that are between people: blasphemy, obscene speech, and lies.  All of these things also destroy community, but they do it in a very open relational manner.  Each of these concepts are things that we say to injure another person.  One might even say that these things are the natural external fruit of the inward seed of the first three words.  We must be careful about our words and how they impact community.

How do your words tear down community around you?  Where have you had to be careful about the words you’ve used about others because they would have been destructive?

Third Thought:

Before going into the positive – which we’ll save for tomorrow – Paul gives us a really neat expression: while stripping off the obsolete man.  I think about this with respect to an old and tattered shirt.  We all have that shirt that is comfortable and worn and it just feels “natural.”  But we know that we shouldn’t wear it in public.  We know that it needs to be thrown away because it just isn’t good anymore.  So it is with us.  We all have the person that is best classified as “the way I am.”  But that doesn’t mean that I should continue to be that guy.  God wants me to rise above my human tendencies.  He wants me to become a new creation.  He wants me to cast of my human sinfulness and put His righteousness in its place.

How do you go about stripping off the obsolete person?  When is it easy for you to get comfortable and slip back into the obsolete person your nature allows you to be?

Passage for Tomorrow: Colossians 3:10-11