Walking as a New Man
ICS Daily Devotions
Colossians 3:12-14 (NKJV) Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
Although the context of this passage is the church setting, every member also has a family. Therefore, they also have to deal with themselves so that the relationships in their own family and church community will not be affected. We are the living stones that make up the temple of God (Ephesians 2:19-22). Therefore, how each of us carries ourselves will affect the cell group, the ministries and the church. Therefore, the sooner we live out our new identity in the new man, the better it is for the body of Christ and the members of the family.
We will have to deal with a lot of emotional baggage if we still hold onto our old man or old identity. We will make rash decisions, not humble ourselves to restart from scratch if necessary, we will be frustrated if we don’t’ get what we want, we will want to hold onto our old positions or achievements as our identity, and we will react negatively to the people around us including those closest to us. The person whose ego has been hurt will tend to be unkind, impatient, intolerant, aggressive and bitter, and demand respect and entitlement. If we do not renew our mind to have our identity in Christ, we will likely be bitter, angry and carry an attitude towards people, especially true when we are insecure, feel rejected, having prolonged identity crisis and feel unsettled in our hearts.
Things would be much easier if we had our identity in Christ, because we would esteem how God looks at us, and be at rest when we know that we are accepted in the Beloved. We have peace with God, and there is nothing to prove because we have broken away from our old identity where we used to strive for the praises and approval of men. There will be no room for us to be offended, disappointed or jealous because we are secure in Jesus Christ, and we will tend to be more gracious, merciful and loving. We love because He first loved us.
Jesus came to give us the right identity and self-worth. Therefore, let’s walk as a new man. This new walk helps us to adopt and work toward Christlikeness where we are compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient, forgiving and loving.
Sermon Series: A New Identity after His Resurrection
