As Halloween approaches, I’m sure you’re busy deciding on what costume you’ll wear (like me), or perhaps you already know what you’ll be. Do these give you any ideas?
It’s fun to dress up as your favorite character from a movie, TV series, or book. Some people put a lot of work and effort into a good costume. And others go for a more cost-effective route. Halloween allows us to be someone else for a night – to put on a “new self” as it were. Do you know what else tells us to put on a new self? It’s the Bible.
Our New Spiritual Selves
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Colossians 3:5-10
In Colossians, the apostle Paul reminds us (believers) to get rid of the worldly desires that cause us to turn away from God’s word. If we claim to be followers of Christ, “Christians”, then how can we still live like those who don’t know God? It’s like what Paul also asks us in Romans 6.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Romans 6:1-2
Halloween allows us to play being someone else for a night. We can act differently, speak differently, and be in character as we wear our costumes. But it’s only for one night. What do we do after Halloween ends? We hang up our costumes, put away the decorations, and make dental appointments to check our teeth after eating all those sweets. But with God and the Bible, it’s not just a one-night thing. It’s an eternal thing. Since we no longer belong to the world or its desires, but to Christ and God, we must also put to death our old selves, since we are made new in Christ. And if we are re-made in Christ through God’s Word, then we also are a new self.
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.
Romans 6:6-7
It is hard to put on our new self, though, since the devil is always right there trying to deceive us and make us turn away. Let’s take some time and reflect on what pulls us away from God’s Word. It can be anything from work to family and friends, personal desires or struggles, our own feelings, or weak faith. It could be helpful to write them down, giving form to our thoughts and making them real. Sometimes physically seeing what pulls us away written down helps us begin to make those changes. Whatever those things are, let us give them up to God through prayer as 1 Peter 5:7 says to cast all our cares on God who cares for us.
Even though we can hang up our Halloween costumes, we must not hang up our spiritual “costume” so to speak, but continually wear it as we study God’s Word and live by it. Let’s be reminded once again by Paul’s encouraging words:
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:12-14
I pray we all can put on our new selves, not as a fun costume, but as a true new being according to God’s Word. How can we do that? We do it by studying God’s Word and understanding it. Let’s do our best to learn and obey what God wants from believers today and do our best to change into our new selves.
Written by Kenny
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