Week 29: How to Become Someone New

Today’s Text: Colossians 3-4

Key Text: Colossians 3:12-14

“And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

Have you ever felt like you needed a fresh start?

I am not just talking about getting a new hairdo, or switching apartments, or trying out a new job, or even entering into a fresh, new relationship with someone. I am talking about a total “do-over” and somehow becoming someone new, as much as that is humanly possible to do so.

Maybe you have made some horrible mistakes, caused a lot of pain – either to others or yourself or both.

Maybe you have just run out of answers and don’t know where to turn next.

Maybe you have decided, as some have said so powerfully,  you are “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

If so, then this scripture passage is for you.

It’s about putting on “the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created” him or her.

It’s about something greater than self-realization. It’s about total transformation.

And, according to the apostle Paul, it is to be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We live in a time when many people are looking for answers to very, very difficult questions.

They are looking for those answers, many times, in the wrong places.

So, how do you become someone new? By becoming a person whose life is marked by a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love. In short, it is “loving as we have been loved,” by Christ.

Sound good? Then, if you have not done so, I invite you to become someone new. Take a long, hard look at what life in Christ offers.

It’s more than a temporary fix. It’s joyful, abundant, eternal life.