June 14 - Colossians 3:7-8
“You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
Paul spent quite a few words telling us that we were free because of the price Christ paid on the cross for us. That certainly wasn’t a license to sin. He just finished telling us that the earthly nature, the things of the flesh needed to die on that cross with Christ. And now he lets us know that we need to get rid of some more things from a list of horrendous activities.
Anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language.
You know my dad used to say that he never got mad, he got angry. That didn’t make much sense to me. I think he was trying to tell us that his anger was righteous anger because we had really done something wrong and he felt quite righteous in his punishment and fury. I think he also believed that being ‘mad’ at someone went a little too far over the edge towards insanity and he never wanted to believe that he was out of control in his anger.
I wish that I had known my scripture a little better in those days, because I would have loved to have quoted this verse to him. Though, I’m quite certain that would have brought more wrath my way.
In fact, as I read the descriptions of the Greek words for these vices, I really would have loved to continue that conversation with him. Anger is from the word ‘orgen’ which is actually a smoldering hatred. Wrath is an explosive outburst. Malice is an evil force which is at the root of both of those vices and effectively destroys any sense of community. Slander is simply blasphemy, whether it is against God or someone who is a representative of God. Our understanding of filthy language is pretty straightforward.
James wrote about bringing the tongue under control. “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6) These vices are exposed when we loose the words on our tongues.
Paul tells us that these things are from our old life. As much as change is difficult for us, it seems that holding on to these things will only hurt us as well as those around us. Paul says, “But now, you must rid yourselves of these.”
“You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
Paul spent quite a few words telling us that we were free because of the price Christ paid on the cross for us. That certainly wasn’t a license to sin. He just finished telling us that the earthly nature, the things of the flesh needed to die on that cross with Christ. And now he lets us know that we need to get rid of some more things from a list of horrendous activities.
Anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language.
You know my dad used to say that he never got mad, he got angry. That didn’t make much sense to me. I think he was trying to tell us that his anger was righteous anger because we had really done something wrong and he felt quite righteous in his punishment and fury. I think he also believed that being ‘mad’ at someone went a little too far over the edge towards insanity and he never wanted to believe that he was out of control in his anger.
I wish that I had known my scripture a little better in those days, because I would have loved to have quoted this verse to him. Though, I’m quite certain that would have brought more wrath my way.
In fact, as I read the descriptions of the Greek words for these vices, I really would have loved to continue that conversation with him. Anger is from the word ‘orgen’ which is actually a smoldering hatred. Wrath is an explosive outburst. Malice is an evil force which is at the root of both of those vices and effectively destroys any sense of community. Slander is simply blasphemy, whether it is against God or someone who is a representative of God. Our understanding of filthy language is pretty straightforward.
James wrote about bringing the tongue under control. “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6) These vices are exposed when we loose the words on our tongues.
Paul tells us that these things are from our old life. As much as change is difficult for us, it seems that holding on to these things will only hurt us as well as those around us. Paul says, “But now, you must rid yourselves of these.”
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