Off With The Old

Don’t testify against your neighbors without cause;don’t lie about them.And don’t say, “Now I can pay them back for what they’ve done to me!I’ll get even with them!”

Proverbs 24:28-29

In this proverb God himself is telling us two things he hates: lying and being spiteful. Both are mean. Both are destructive.

Lying—God hates it. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” is one of God’s top Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:16, NIV). That shows how important this is to him. It was God’s plan to have an entire nation live with this principle. Just imagine what life would be like even if just Christians, God’s people, decided to wholeheartedly obey this commandment. Just imagine.

Winston Churchill commented, “By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach.”

The next issue is spitefulness, which simply means “full of spite.” Colossians 3:8-9 tells us to put off ugly, useless behavior as we would take off old, dirty clothes. “Now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.” Ladies, these attitudes and actions are ugly and out of style for a godly woman. Do you remember the Disney movie Bambi? Thumper’s father gave some good advice to his little rabbit son. He said, “If you can’t say something nice . . . don’t say nothing at all.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

When women come to Christ, they often realize there are clothes in their closets that have to go. They’re no longer the same person who put on that seductive top or those tight pants. Their desires are different, inside and out. My friend, let’s continue the process of putting off old ways of living and responding. We need a fresh wardrobe of new ways to replace them. Colossians 3:10, 14 takes us on a shopping trip that will produce the kind of “extreme makeover” that really matters. “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. . . . Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

One Year Bible Reading

Jeremiah 10:1–11:23; Colossians 3:18–4:18; Psalm 78:56-72; Proverbs 24:28-29