How to walk in your new life

Now that you have decided to walk with the Lord, He requires that you take this walk seriously. Colossians 3 gives a perfect layout of what you should do along this walk in this new life you now have with Christ. 

Below I chose to pick out the main points from this passage to highlight these instructions. This is a practical guide to walking with the Lord in your new life. The references are taken from the New Living Translation, Easy to Read Version and The Message.

Practical Guide for Walking with the Lord

Set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 

Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

Why??

Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

What to Remove

Put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you:

• Sexual immorality/sexual promiscuity
• Impurity 
• Lust
• Evil desires – doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it

Don’t be greedy or don’t grab whatever attracts your fancy. A greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.

Get rid of:

• Anger 
• Rage/losing your temper
• Malicious behavior/doing or saying things to hurt others
• Slander/saying shameful things
• Dirty language/dirty talk

Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. 

What to Put On

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Now you are wearing a new life, a life that is new every day. You are growing in your understanding of the one who made you. You are becoming more and more like him.

Dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you:

• Tenderhearted mercy/Compassion
• Kindness
• Humility
• Gentleness/ Quiet Strength
• Patience/Discipline

Don’t be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them. Forgive others because the Lord forgave you.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. None of this going off and doing your own thing.

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your life. Give it plenty of room in your life.

Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. 

Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

Whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Always be thankful every step of the way!