A New Man

Colossians 3:8-11 (KJV) Says, "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And  have put on the new man, which is renewed knowledge after the image of Him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all."

In the above scripture Paul uses the terms old man and new man. When he uses the word old man, he is talking about the person we were prior to accepting God's precious gift of salvation. When he uses the term new man, he is, of course, speaking of the person we become after we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Paul explains that after we have been saved we should no longer carry anger, wrath, and harbor ill will toward others. We should not tell lies, and we should guard what comes out our mouths. We should cease to curse, condemn others, gossip, and allow other such negative spewing to come from our mouths. Paul reminds us that we have put on the new man, and that we were created in God's image. He also reminds us that we are all equal in Christ.

After we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior people should be able to tell a difference between us and non-believers. Unfortunately, in the world today that is becoming very difficult to do. If I being a Christian, become angry, lose control, scream, and yell what does that do for my credibility as a witness for Christ? How am I behaving any different than I would have prior to being saved? If I harbor ill will toward another human being, and have the desire to get back at them for something they've done to me, then how have I changed? How is my heart any different? If I curse, lie, gossip, and in no way guard my mouth, then how am I demonstrating that I am a New Creature in Christ?

God created each of us in His own image, and God is love. God is patient, kind, loving, forgiving, understanding, compassionate, humble, and all other things good. Being created in His image, and then becoming  a New Man in Christ we should have the desire in our hearts to be these things as well. Accepting God's precious gift of salvation doesn't mean we will never become angry, that we won't slip while attempting to guard our mouths, that we won't have to battle the fleshly desire to argue back at someone who lashes out at us, or that we won't slip on occasion in some other area of weakness. No human being is perfect, and God is well aware of that. To be born again, however, and then make no effort whatsoever to identify our areas of weakness, and begin working on them is damaging in so many ways. First and foremost it is hurtful to God, He has granted us eternal life and in return we continue behaving as the Old Man we once were. Secondly, we are being poor witnesses for our Lord and Savior. Thirdly, we are God's children and just as we tell our own children, there are consequences for disobedience because we love them, so it is with God when we choose to walk in disobedience to him.

Jesus being sinless, knowing He was going to suffer crucifixion for all of our sins walked in love. He was encouraging, patient, kind, and all things good. Again, human beings will never be perfect, but I know that Jesus having faced what He faced and enduring the suffering He endured out of  love for us is more than enough incentive for us, as Christians, to have the desire in our hearts to walk in obedience to Him.

I encourage you to take an inventory of yourself, make a list of your problem areas, and begin work on correcting them today. I have problem areas as we all do, and I try each day to improve on them. Once you become aware of a behavior that you desire to correct, and make a conscience effort to correct it then eventually it is no longer a problem. I know many people think accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior means that you must live a boring life, and nothing could be further from the truth. When you accept Christ, you receive eternal life, unconditional love, forgiveness, understanding, compassion, someone to talk to twenty four hours a day seven days a week, someone who will never leave you nor forsake you, someone who will take on all of your worries and cares, a divine peace like you have never before known, joy, someone to hold your hand and walk beside you every step you take, blessings, miracles, answered prayers, and so much more that there is no possible way to list it all here. Knowing that He freely gives us all these things, how could we as Christians even consider walking in our Old Man ways?

If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.