Put to death your sins

~Tuesday Thoughts~

This is the second post in the series on Colossians 3 and 4. The first is On Things Above. The first category in the NIV Bible for this passage is called "Living as Those Made Alive in Christ." Let us do so!

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[a] You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." Colossians 3:5-10 (NIV)

God calls us to give up the sins we like. Some of the ones listed above that I struggle with are lust, greed. anger, and filthy language. What about you? No matter which sins we have been entangled in before, God delivers us. We are being renewed. 

"No temptation[a] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[c] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

How about you? What sins are you entangled in? Have you asked God to help you with them? 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition

~Friday for Friends~

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

Hard couple of verses. It is so easy to focus only on ourselves, to care only about our own successes and failures. But we are supposed to put God first and others second, no matter how overused that phrase might sound. We are to imitate what Christ has already done (Philippians 2:5-11). 

So what can you do today for others? 

Paige on Self-Respect vs. Conceit

~Friday for Friends~

Today I'll do something different, which I hope you don't mind.

There's this pretty good blog, In Real Life, and yesterday it had a post: Paige on Self-Respect Vs. Conceit. This is something I've been thinking about lately.

^"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)

What do you think about the blog post and the Bible passage? Does the passage mean we should like ourselves? Respect ourselves? Love ourselves? Or not?

Others first

~Friday for Friends~

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

I think this is a very very hard thing for us to do. The way we look at it, the first thing we should do is get ourselves comfortable. If we help someone in the process -good, but that's not the focus. So wrong.

Let's try to work on that, on putting others first. We have a great example - Jesus Christ (verse)!!!

  "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

  Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
  rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
  And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV)

How about you? What can you do for others today?

Selfless love

~Friday for Friends~

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

Relationships… So many today love because they want to be loved back, jumping into relationships so that they will feel that bliss and joy of being one’s all. And it seems that so few come into them with “What can I give to make him/her feel better? What can I do to make his/her life a bit more filled with sunshine?” This is not just about boy/girl relationships, although it definitely applies to them.

How often do we catch ourselves thinking “Why does [friend] ignore me? Why did he/she do that? Why can't he/she spend more time with me?” But when was the last time we thought “Hey, maybe I should go see him/her? What would he/she like? What is the best way I can encourage him?” Granted, we do that every once in a while - possibly more at this past Christmas season. But oh-so-often it's about me, myself, and I.

God loved us first and therefore we should love also - with sacrificial love.

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:10-11 (NIV)

Let's try to think of others all throughout the year! 

How about you? Do you have ideas on how you can show love to those around you throughout the year?

Saying "no" to selfishness

~Friday for Friends~

Being selfish is easy. All we have to do is think about ourselves a bit more than we already do, remember all the good things we ever did, and decide that we certainly deserve whatever it is we want. The problem? We shouldn't be selfish.

The Bible tells to not be selfish, but to place others before ourselves.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves." Romans 12:10(NIV)

"For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." James 3:16 (NIV)

"No one should seek their own good, but the good of others." 1 Corinthians 10:24 (NIV)


The best example of selflessness is Jesus.

"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28 (NIV)

 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
  Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
  rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
  And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross! Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV)

Let's pray and ask God to help us become less selfish and more selfless!