How to Fight Against Sin: A 5-Day Devotion From ColossiansSample

DAY 4: Live Differently

“If.” That’s how Paul addresses his original audience in verse one. “If then you have been raised with Christ.” If you’re a Christian, your way of living should reflect the risen Savior you’ve trusted. You should live as one who’s dead to sin and alive in Christ. 

How do we do that? The commands in Colossians 3 instruct us here:

Command 1: Seek the things above (v. 1).

What are you seeking in your life? What are you pursuing? Growing a relationship with God and fighting sin are not the result of our passivity; they require our effort. But are you intentionally seeking the Lord and “the things that are above” or something else?

Command 2: Set your mind on things above (v. 2).

What are you thinking about and living for—the earthly or the eternal? What all have you thought about today? What has filled your mind? 

Our thought-life directly affects our attitude and behavior. If you allow thoughts of anxiety (or bitterness, discontentment, envy, etc.) to be on a loop in your mind, anxiety will consume you, affecting your physical body, your manner, and your actions. While you can’t necessarily control what pops into your mind, you can control whether you linger on it or choose to think about something else, something that aligns with Philippians 4:8’s command to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, or praise-worthy.

Command 3: Put to death what’s earthly in you (v. 5).

As Christians, we should put to death the things that reflect our old lives. Don’t give life to your old, sinful patterns of thinking and living. With this, Paul gives examples of behaviors we should be dead to: sexual immorality, impurity, passion (dishonorable passions or lust), evil desire, and covetousness (a.k.a. idolatry). 

Paul also reminds us why we should put such sins to death: they’re deserving of God’s wrath, which is coming. Those who have denied God will be judged by Him. People will either experience God’s wrath for themselves or will trust in Christ who absorbed God’s wrath against sin on the cross. This latter group shouldn’t live like the former; the saved shouldn’t act like those awaiting God’s judgment for their sin.

Command 4: Put away or put off the old self (vv. 8-11).

We’re to abandon our ways of thinking, believing, and acting that are characteristic of ungodliness. The new self—Christlikeness—is what we’re to put on, and the old self—sinfulness—is what we’re to put off. Like shedding dirty clothes in order to put on clean ones, we’re to put off anger, quick tempers, wishing or doing harm to others, slander, obscene talk, and lying. Getting rid of these behaviors and practices will be necessary in order to replace them with the new ones described in vv. 12-17.