Welcome to week 5 of Colossians for Families! The focus of our study will be on Colossians 3:9+10 and how essential it is to put off the old self.
Click here for Colossians Week 4 – Raised
Let’s Study the Bible Together
Opening Prayer
Dear Jesus, we come to you with thankful hearts for all you have done for us. As we open up the Bible today, open up our eyes to see you more clearly and give us the power to live for you by putting off the old self. Amen
Read Colossians 3:9+10
“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
Background Info for Parents
Reflecting on Colossians 3:1-4, Paul has just called us to adopt a heavenly perspective on our lives. If you’ve been raised with Christ, then set your mind on things that are above. It’s a perspective that comes from our new identities in Christ. We have died to our old selves and have now been raised to a new life in Him.
Put Off and Put On
Over the next two weeks, we will be looking at a challenge that Paul gave to the Colossian believers (and us) to put to death sin and to put on the new self. And before we can talk about the forward-looking concept of putting on the new self next week, we need to think about what it means to put sin to death.
God Saves Us From Our Sins
First and foremost, putting sin to death isn’t a human-centered decision to try really, really hard to stop sinning. That’s impossible! The truth is that Jesus came into the world to live the sinless life that we were unable to live, die as a sacrifice for our sins, and then rise again so that we can have new life. He did it for us! Paul has been talking about us identifying with him in his death and resurrection. Theses are unrepeatable events.
God Invites Us Into the Process of Being Renewed
Second, because we have received this wonderful gift of salvation and now have the Holy Spirit living in us, we can make a decisive change by throwing off sin and putting on Christ. Paul isn’t talking about perfection. He’s talking about a new kind of life. Yes, sin will still be present, but we now have the power to overcome sin and it’s entrapments. Because you have died with Christ – there are some big changes that need to happen.
He offers us a couple of lists of sin that the Colossian church was dealing with:
First List: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness.
Second List: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
These lists are long and have some topics that you may not want to address with your children at this point in their development. For our purposes with young kids, let’s focus on the very relevant topic of the dangers of lying and the importance of being trustworthy.
Our focus in verse 9 and 10 – Do not lie to one another
Discussion Questions
What does it mean to lie to another person?
Why do we lie?
How did it feel the last time you lied?
In what ways does it hurt our relationship with the person you are lying to?
Does lying damage your relationship with God?
What does it mean to be a trustworthy person?
The book of Colossians give us some good reasons why we shouldn’t lie to each other (plus a list of other sins that hurt our relationship with God and other people, like sexual immorality, evil desire, anger, talking bad about another person, and bad language. Just to name part of his list). Here are the reasons Paul tells us about in our passage:
- You put off the old self when you started following Jesus.
- You put on the new self.
- Your new self is being renewed in the knowledge of God.
If you have already received the forgiveness that Jesus is offering you, you are a follower of Jesus – a Christ-follower. The Bible tells us that you are being renewed in the knowledge of God. God the Father is working through the redemptive work of His Son and the power of His Holy Spirit to change us.
What would it look like to be renewed in the knowledge of God?
Family Life Application
Memory Verse
Colossians 3:9+10 ”Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.“
In today’s Bible Study, we discussed how important it is to tell the truth instead of lying. We want to be trustworthy. Parents, spend some time affirming a time that your child (or children) told the truth instead of lying. Tell them how that made you feel and how they built trust with you.
Prayer Focus
- Thank God for sending Jesus to the earth to rescue us.
- Ask God to help us walk with Him every single day.
- Pray for each family member’s spiritual growth.
Additional Resources
Understanding the Gospel: Are Parent’s Guide
Family Discipleship: A Biblical Guide for Parents
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