PUTTING ON

058 – JUNE 2008

PUTTING ON

In the middle of your seemingly impossible dilemma to alter some sin or bad habit, some well meaning person advises “Just relax and let God do it .”
What does that mean? I know that God could do it and He could do it a whole bunch better than I do. But what exactly does He do and what (if any) is my part in the whole thing.

I believe that you are responsible for the action and God responds by changing your heart. This is very important so let me explain.

Thought 1. You cannot change your heart. David was overwhelmed with a heavily repentant and apologetic heart when he wrote Psalm 51. Helplessly, he pleaded to God to change the heart.
Ps 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Thought 2. You can, however, change your actions.
In the middle of Colossians chapter 3, there is a great code of counsel. It should be on the top shelf of the “Self-Help” section in every book store. It is a principle for change. It is a key for setting yourself free from the sin and bad habits that you wish you did not have.
Col 3:12 “Put on therefore … mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another … even as Christ forgave you, so also do you.
The phrase “put on” comes from the Greek word “enduo” and means to “clothe yourself” or to put on as though you were putting on a piece of clothing.

Therefore, in those instances where you want to be angry - put on peace. Where you might want to be intolerant – put on patience. Where you are craving revenge - put on (clothe yourself with) forgiveness.
These are all acts of righteousness (doing what is right) and obedience to God. You would be consciously acting to do the right thing … even though your flesh is screaming for it’s own way.

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

You are responsible for the action and God responds by changing your heart. In your quest for change, God is with you. You can execute the assignments with “faith” … believing that while you are replacing (sometimes reluctantly) your substandard garment for one that is much nicer, God responds. He begins the process of changing you. That’s very powerful!
Example - If you are an intolerant person, you can make a decision to put on tolerance. You can trudge through a bit of self control with the assurance that God is honoring your actions and is changing your heart. You will wake up one morning and realize that you have changed and that you are now a tolerant person. You applied the action with the faith that God would change your heart. Think about that! It’s quite incredible.
(I used the “intolerance” example, because it was one of my own changes of heart.)

Col 3:14 And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness.