Weekly Impressions - Do's and Don'ts

Colossians 3:9-10

"Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him..."

Most people think of God as a God of rules. Don’t do this, don’t do that. He has been showing me “don’t” is only part of the message. It isn’t about what not to do, it’s about what to do. We are not only to put off our old selves, but to put on the new self. (Colossians 3:10, Romans 12:2)

I believe that for every sin, God gives us something to replace it with; something that will fulfill us far more than the sin ever could. For example: the most obvious is pride and arrogance. We are to replace this with humility. That’s the easy answer - but I encourage you to delve into not only what humility means, but what it is, what it looks like, how to do it specifically.

During one of my struggles with selfishness, my biblical counselor pointed me to Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” The don’t is clear, but so is the do. However, I wanted to know more about what humility looked like, so I kept on reading. Philippians 2:8b says of Christ, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” I realized part of being humble is being obedient.

Now replacing pride with humility is, as I had said, an easy example. What about anxiety? What about fear? God has shown me answers for these as well through seeking Him in His Word.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Don’t be anxious. Do pray with humility and thankfulness. I am to replace my anxiety with thankfulness, recognizing I am always in the presence of God and He is the One in control. This is a large part of the reason I began writing my thankful things. I wanted a way to hold myself accountable to create the habit of being thankful in all things. Anxiety and fear, though closely related, are a little different. (For an explanation on what I found to replace my fear with, see my previous Impressions - Fear.)

It may also be noted the previous verses say, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). In context, it stands to reason the above tools are the same tools to use in order to have joy. I am so thankful for God’s gift of the Bible, that we can know Him more through it. The more I know Him, the more joy I have. What has He taught you that gives you joy? Do you think about it often?