June 24: Put Off the Old Self
The old you still shows up some days, like an old coat you keep putting back on out of habit.
“…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Paul uses the image of clothing again. Put away the old self, which grows corrupt through deceitful desires. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Put on the new self, created in God’s likeness in righteousness and holiness of truth.
Notice the three movements. Put off. Be renewed. Put on.
Putting off is what Step Six prepares for. You become willing to take off the old self. That old self was shaped by what Paul calls deceitful desires. Desires that promised something and didn’t deliver. Alcohol is the obvious one. It promised relief, connection, confidence. It delivered the opposite. But many defects work the same way. Anger promises control. Dishonesty promises safety. Pride promises respect. All deceitful.
Being renewed is God’s work in your mind. New ways of thinking. New understanding of who you are.
Putting on is choosing the new self each day. Paul goes on in the next verses with specifics. Put away lying, speak truth. Be angry but don’t sin. Let the thief steal no more, but work, so he has something to give. Let no corrupt speech come out of your mouth.
Practical. Daily. Like getting dressed.
The new self is created in God’s likeness. That’s who you were always meant to be. Recovery isn’t turning you into someone foreign. It’s restoring you to the person God made.
If you use the Steps & Scripture app, your daily plan can be a small way of choosing the new self each morning. Prayer, reading, a call. Whatever tool you use, the point is the same. Get dressed in the new self on purpose, every day.
One thing today
Choose one old habit to put off today and one new habit to put on in its place. Write both down. Do the new one at least once before tonight.
A prayer
Lord, the old self is so familiar. I keep putting it back on. Help me take it off for good. Renew my mind. Help me put on the new self You’re forming in me, every morning. Amen.
Read about Step Six.
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