Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. —Colossians 3:12
God—the Master Architect and Builder—has drawn up plans to rebuild new, holy lives as we “put on” the Lord Jesus. To put off without putting on is like tearing down a condemned house and thinking your work is complete before the rebuilding is begun. Putting off sinful practices isn’t sufficient to make us holy. We must also put on righteousness.
In Colossians 3 we are exhorted to “put to death” unholy appetites, attitudes, and actions (vv. 5–9). The old, contaminated house must be eliminated. In its place, God wants to build a new house as we “put on” the qualities we see in Christ—compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and thankfulness (vv. 12–17).
As with putting off sin, putting on the heart of Christ doesn’t just happen. We must be intentional about cultivating new patterns of godliness. This can take place only by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God.
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Holiness: The Heart God Purifies ©2004, 2005 Revived Hearts Foundation
Scripture taken from The CSB
Make it Personal
How have you seen your life change since you decided to “put on” Christ? How can you be intentional about cultivating godliness?