I love how it feels to put on new clothes. There’s something about a new shirt, a pristine sweater, or brand-new slacks that feels so good. It makes me feel renewed. I think, “This looks good. I look good!” Once, when I’d put on a new suit, my wife said, “It’s just like you!”

That sense of looking and feeling new is exactly what this verse is talking about.

It starts out in a rather ordinary way. “Don’t lie to one another.” That’s plain enough. It’s what we were taught when we said, “I didn’t do it,” but there were crumbs on our lips and the lid of the cookie jar was half-way off. It’s wrong to lie. We know that.

But look closer at why we’re not supposed to lie to one another. It’s because we’ve “put off the old self” and “put on the new self.” In Christ, we’ve got a new look; we’re new people. What’s the most important characteristic of this new self? It’s being “renewed” in the “image of its creator.”

There are many ways to think about the new likeness, this image, that God is forming within us, but here’s a simple one. As we grow to know him better, we become more and more like our truest self, the person we were always meant to be, fresh and clean.

“I’ve made a new self just for you,” God says, “Put it on. It’ll feel good and look great.”

Father, thank you for inviting us to live a new, eternal, resurrected life in Christ. Thank you for working in us day by day to make us more like him. It is so encouraging to know that one day, we will be fully like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3.1-4). Show me if there is any obstacle to your Spirit’s transformative work in my life, any area where I am living out of my old identity instead of the one you have given me. Amen.

Throughout This Day: Remind yourself often of the new life you have in Christ. He has given you everything you need for life and godliness. Trust him for the strength to obey his lead throughout this day, so that his love is made manifest in all you do.



Tags: Daily Devotional Colossians 3
Photo Credit: Matt Lamers on Unsplash