Colossians 3:5, 8-10, 12-14 NIV “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry….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…Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” https://bible.com/bible/111/col.3.5-14.NIV

This is practical Christianity, as defined by loving our neighbor as ourselves. Loving God is integrally connected to loving our neighbor. It is how we practically love God that we show our love for Him by how we treat others. To properly love God and others, we have to first stop loving ourselves first and most. Our biggest enemy toward God and men is us, our own selfish, demanding, self-oriented will and ways. The sinful nature we receive at birth, with all the other parts of our DNA, stays with us until we receive our new bodies from God for loving Him first and most in these bodies. This sinful nature must be rebuked, controlled, put to death in its volition, not allowed to act out its will but instead made a slave to the will of God in Christ Jesus. We are given the Holy Spirit to empower us to do God’s will. We are given God’s word so that we know God’s will and can align ourselves with it. We are given God’s people, His church, for encouraging one another in this battle and for obeying God’s commands so that the world might see we are His disciples by our love for one another. A Christian is not a person who believes in God through Jesus the Savior, but remains the same person they were before believing. A Christian is a person who believes in Jesus as Savior and then bows their knees before Him in repentant submission, seeking to be born again by Him so that they can begin living like Him forever. A Christian is ever increasing in their likeness to Jesus in character and conduct. Any other definition of Christianity is to deceive ourselves that we are pleasing to God while walking the wide road leading to destruction.

RUN TODAY’S PLAY: Following Jesus means putting sin to death and putting on Christ-like character.