#33 - The Prison Letters - Colossians

Colossians 3:1-14 (NIV)
Read by: Chandra Crane

Most of us have had the painful experience of showing up to a place and being one of two things--either way overdressed, or way underdressed. You remember . . . you show up to a friends wedding, and as you pull up you realize that your dress and heels or your suit and tie are just completely out of place with the denim and converse that surround you.

It’s the worst when this happens at church. My wife and I are members at a Black Baptist church here in Alabama. And for anyone who is new to the Black Church, there comes the day where you learn the difference between 1st Sunday and 3rd Sunday, and if you dress on that 1st Sunday like you would on that 3rd Sunday, your khakis are gonna stick out like a sore thumb.

In this passage Paul encourages the Colossians to put on the new self in place of the old, because the old way, the "old clothes of this world" if you will, are simply not appropriate for those of us who are in Christ.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What parts of the old self are you most tempted to keep in your attire? Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, or filthy language? Name where you struggle and bring it before the LORD who sees you and delights in you.

2. Pauls says that as we put on the new self, we are renewed in God’s Image--where there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free. Some have taken this to mean that we should minimize our differences and be colorblind for instance. However, the groupings that he lists related to one another in that time based on the dominance or subordination their identity dictated. Rather than denying diversity and distinction, he’s denying dominance in how we relate to other image bearers. So, where do you carry dominance in our society? Race, Gender, Age, Ability, Economic Class, Education level? Ask Jesus to help you see others in His Image.

3. Where do you need the LORDs help to be dressed appropriately for the new life he’s offering you: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness patience, bearing with each other and forgiving one another, love? Ask the Spirit to come and cloth you with these things.

----- Read ------

Mixed Blessing - Chandra Crane >>

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Bible Project Podcast: New Testament Letters >>

Bible Project Video: New Testament Letters: Historical Context >>

Bible Project Video: New Testament Letters: Literary Context >>

Bible Project Video: Colossians >>

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