Daily Devotions – Put off the old self

Daily Devotions – Put off the old self

Ephesians 4:17-32 (ESV)

The New Life

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,[a] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Lent is not only about confessing our sin. It is just as much about fighting sin, and seeking to live in our new life in Christ. The Bible sometimes describes this with the idea that we have two selves. One is the old sinful, selfish person. The other is a loving, sinless person who trusts God. This “new self” is a gift in baptism. The challenge is that the old self still clings to our body, and won’t be gone until our body dies. Meanwhile, the new self lives in us. This passage gives us much encouragement and practical ways to “put off the old self” and “put on the new.” In what ways is God calling you to do this during this season of Lent?