It seems like all week long that I have been receiving notification via social media that another one of our former classmates has become a grandparent. This news, along with the announcement that our eldest son and his wife are expecting their second child, (YES!) has caused my mind to contemplate both the new and the old. So many beautifully brand-new little faces, happy young parents, and beaming grandparents; new life is an overwhelming time of wonder and joy. However, the fact that these same GRANDPARENTS, my friends and former classmates, are the ones struggling with what affectionately appropriate name should they be called now that they have a grandchild, can be somewhat alarming. We don’t want to be old; we don’t feel old, but we have to face that fact; we are definitely not “new”!
Thinking along this line brought to mind the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”
Well, maybe we are not to the point where we are ready to admit to “wasting away”, but I really like the idea that whatever happens on the outside, inwardly we can be RE-newed every day.
I can have a brand new me inside day by day. Paul was not referring to the new-birth or salvation experience in that scripture. He was speaking to believers and even to those who were struggling with persecution and trouble all around them. So, in spite of whatever was happening outside they could be new within their own souls. But how?
Two other scriptures give us more specific insight into this process of renewal.
Ephesians 4:22-24 describes it almost as if describing getting dressed.
“22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Obviously there is some spiritual cognitive therapy happening because the renewal comes in the “spirit of your minds.”
How? Colossians 3:1-17 is one of the most detailed descriptions of our part in this renewal.
Seek the things that are above by setting your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Then just in case that is too theoretical, he brings it down to VERY practical, on the concrete, daily living.
“5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
“now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” “9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices”
Those are some strong phrases, but it is not all negative. Change is difficult if behaviors and thinking patterns are just removed. Something will need to take the place of the negative and Paul has the answer again.
“12 Put on then …compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
13 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.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Out with the old- in with the new! This is not about a “works” based religion. Remember in both of the passages Paul is speaking to followers of Christ. Colossians 3:7 says, “7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away”
One of the best statements I have heard all year is “Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning.” Our salvation is the free gift of God, but if we want to be renewed every day then, we need to get busy and quit waiting for God to smite us with Christlikeness!
Put to death! Put away! Then…
Put on, bearing with, forgiving, love, be thankful!
Verse 16 is the pivotal point- stay in the WORD, surround yourself with good God music (apparently even Paul made allowance for differing music tastes, you got your psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs), and keep an attitude of gratitude.
Finally do everything is Jesus name. In other words, if you cannot do whatever you are about to do, in a way that honors the name of Jesus, do not do it!
I want to be re-newed today, tomorrow, the next day. You will never know it to look on the outside of all of us grandmothers and grandfathers, but inside some of us will be getting “newer” every day!