Set Your Mind, Change Your Life

Intro

Have you ever noticed how what fills your mind eventually shapes your life?

If you constantly think about fear… you live anxious. All you have to do is to watch the news… any news station. They are all trying to make you afraid so that you will watch.

If you dwell on offense… you live bitter. Some people walk around looking for ways to be offended. If you do that, you will live a lonely and bitter life.

If you scroll outrage… you will live irritated. And a lot of people are scrolling and looking at stuff that isn’t remotely real. But they live irritated.

If your mind is set on Jesus… your life begins to look like him. You begin to think like him, talk like him and act like him. You will live life with inner peace.

Check this out…

Your life moves in the direction of your strongest thoughts

Let’s be honest, some of us don’t need more Bible, we need less doomscrolling.

You check your phone for 30 seconds and the next thing you know it’s been 45 minutes and you are mad at people you never met and don’t know. People were a lot happier when they had to wait until 6 and 10 to get the news. But we have all sorts of stuff at our fingertips, much of which is not even accurate.

Paul stepped into that kind of a distracted world and says, Col 3:1 set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

IOW,

Set Your minds on things above.

Paul is not saying that what we do here is not important, but he is saying that the realities of heaven are more important. We should never let political divisions, moral failures, or anything earthly keep us from being willing, able and welcome to share the Gospel with someone.

Imagine if George Soros were to be radically saved? A lady named Carol years ago ran many abortion clinics. She was having some problems and met with a pastor. An abortionist meeting with a pastor… don’t you know that was quite the scandal. He listened and didn’t condemn her. He helped her with her problems and eventually led her to faith in Christ. Do you want to know what that abortionist did? She closed all 5 of her abortion clinics.

That pastor had his mind set on things above.

Someone said,

You don’t drift towards holiness, you drift toward whatever you focus on.

Paul writes Colossians 3 not as a theory, but as a call to transformation.

Not behavior modification.

Not try harder Christianity.

But a new life flowing from a new identity. He spent the first two chapters showing us our identity in Christ, now he is shifting.

Let’s look at this passage.

Colossians 3:1–4 NLT

1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

1. You have a new position.

Look what Paul says, Since you have been raised to new Life in Christ…

Paul doesn’t say if you feel like it. He says since you have been because when you invited Jesus to save you, he raised you to a new life in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

You are not trying to earn eternal life, you have been given life. Paul says that…

You were Raised with Christ

You are Seated with Christ

You are Hidden with Christ

That is your position. It means your identity is not

Your job title… Your job title is child of the king of kings

Your past mistakes… You are a new person… mistakes are covered by Jesus blood on the Cross

Your social image … When God looks at you, he see Jesus because you are in Him.

The truth is: You don’t fight for victory, you fight from victory.

Imagine a child thats adopted into a new family. They didn’t do anything to earn a new name, they were given that new name. All they have to do is receive it.

But over time, they must learn to live like they belong to that family.

Thats what Paul is saying here. You already belong to Jesus, now live like it. Live like you are a child of the King. Learn to live like who we really are in Christ.

Think about this. What would change this week if you actually lived like:

You knew you were already accepted? What if you knew you were accepted by God and that He will take care of you no matter what? If you get that Friday afternoon call to the bosses office, you don’t worry, you are accepted by God almighty/

You knew you were already forgiven? You don’t have to walk around carrying shame. You have a clean slate.

You knew you were already secure in Christ?

It would change things wouldn’t it? It would change the way you think, talk and act.

Have you ever seen someone get a new job? and suddenly their who personality changes? They have a new job, a new email… They talk differently and act differently … Why? Because

Position changes behavior.

Some people here are living like spiritual unpaid interns even though God has made you family.

Paul is saying that,

You’ve been given a new position in Christ, now live like it.

So stop rehearsing who you were, and start living who you are.

Your position has changed and Paul is saying, “If your position has changed, your patterns of living must also change.

2. Put off the old life.

Someone once said, what you don’t kill will eventually kill you.

Colossians 3:5–9 NLT

5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.

Paul didn’t say manage it, rename it or excuse it, he said put the old to death. Then he gets real practical real fast.

He says to put to death…

Sexual Immorality.

Impurity

Lust

Evil desires

Greed

Anger

Rage

Malicious behavior

Slander

Dirty Language

Lying

All wicked deeds - pretty much covers everything.

Paul is not suggesting that we manage these things. He is using surgery language. We are to cut these out of our lives… to put them to death.

Sin doesn’t need management, sin needs a funeral.

It’s like you have an app on your phone that has a virus, you have to delete it. You don’t monitor it, you delete it.

Some of you are praying: God give me strength… and God is saying, delete the App.

We want deliverance but we keep the notifications on.

What do I mean by that?

Some people keep going back to the same websites… having the same conversations with people… and keeping the same attitudes… and we wonder why nothing changes.

You cannot live a new life while feeding the old life.

It’s like trying to get healthy while you are eating poison. You can go to the gym and work out, but you are still eating poison and you are going to die.

Some of us are stuck and we are not stuck because we lack prayer, or even Bible study. We are stuck because we refuse to let something die.

Think about this and ask yourself.

What am I tolerating that God has told me to kill?

What habit, thought, a worry or sin keeps pulling me back?

NOW, the Christian walk is not just about what you remove, it’s about what you replace it with.

Paul goes on to say…

3. Put on the New Life.

You don’t just take off sin, you put on Christ.

Colossians 3:10–14 NLT

10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. 12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

Paul says to put on your new nature… You have a new nature when you receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

Paul changes the imagery from dying to your flesh to dressing yourself. He is saying that every day you wake up and put something on. Some of you took longer than others, and we appreciate the effort.

Paul is saying that spiritually, you have to choose what you wear. Think about it…

Your clothes affect how you feel. Have you ever put on something really nice and suddenly your posture changes? Maybe you were not confident 5 minutes before but now you are.

Paul says that spiritually, we are to put on our new nature which is Christlike character.

What if you put on …

Compassion before walking into work?

Kindness before opening your mouth?

Patience before dealing with your kids?

Some of us wake up and accidently put on irritability…

Transformation is not just subtraction, it’s replacement.

You don’t just take off dirty clothes, you put on clean ones. God doesn’t just strip away stuff, He reclothes you. You get rid of the bad and replace it with the good…

The center piece of all this is love.

Paul gives a long list of things to put on: Colossians 3:12–14 “… clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

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

Colossians 3:14 NLT

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

Love is the belt that keeps your pants on… it holds everything together. It’s kind of like the wifi in your house. When it’s working, everything runs smoothly. When it doesn’t everyone is frustrated.

Without love:

Kindness becomes fake.

Patience becomes forced

Humility becomes pride in disguise.

So ask yourself…

Am I more loving or just more religious?

So what Paul is saying is that when the inside changes, it begins to effect everything around you. When you love people, you might still not like what they are doing, but you treat them differently.

Next he moves from what you wear to what rules you.

4. Let Christ rule your inner life.

Colossians 3:15 NLT

15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Have you ever started typing a text of a social media post and something inside you says: “Don’t send that?”

That’s not weakness or fear, that’s wisdom from the HS trying to keep you from doing something stupid. That’s peace acting like an umpire.

Some of you (like me) have ignored that voice, hit the send button and immediately regretted it. Maybe you think… maybe I should have let the Lord edit that.

Peace is not just a feeling, it’s an attitude.

God’s peace is like an umpire that makes the call, that’s out of bounds… don’t do that…

Here is a rule for you…

If there is no peace, you pause. If there is peace, you proceed.

Now Paul shits to what fills our minds… He says,

5. Let Christ fill your mind.

Colossians 3:16 NLT

16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

Not every now and then. Not in a shallow way. But let it richly fill your mind.

We live in an age of podcasts, news, Ted Talks, Tiktok, & reels. We are over-informed and under transformed.

Some of you know 25 life hacks… 25 wiehgt loss hacks… 25 house beatification hacks… but still don’t have peace.

Have you ever watched a show on Prime or Netflix, and it auto plays the next episode? You end up binge watching a whole season.

Imagine if your Bible time auto played into your day. What if scripture wasn’t something you visited, but something that lived in you. That would make a difference.

Why is this important?

Whatever fills your mind shapes your life.

Our mind is like a sponge. When you squeeze it, it reveals what is was soaked in. When Life squeezes you, it reveals what’s on the inside.

What are you filling your mind with daily?

Scripture of noise?

Next Paul zooms out to everything…

6. Let Christ define everything you do.

Colossians 3:17 NLT

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

This is the ultimate filter.

Imagine wearing a shirt with Jesus name written boldly on it everywhere you go… work… home… online…

Or having a bumper sticker on your car that says “Honk if you Love Jesus.”

What would change?

What you say?

How you respond?

What you post?

How you drive?

Maybe you need to ask

Would I tag Jesus in this?

Do I want Jesus in this conversation? these actions? my driving?

There is no “off duty” Christian.

We are always a witness… a good one or a porr one, but we are always one.

Story of the pastor vacationing in G-burg and talking to the girl on the trip with us.

Conclusion

Paul gives us a simple but life-changing pattern”

Set your mind.

Put to death the old life

Put on the new (Character of Jesus)

Let peace rule

Let the Word of God dwell

Do everything in Jesus name.

Many people upgrade their phones… some of us every time a new comes out. Imagine you got a brand new model… faster, more powerful… better. But you keep using it like the old one. You never update the settings, never use the new features and you still complain that it doesn’t work well. Finally someone tells you that you have something very powerful, but you are using it like it’s not.

or

Imagine a man being in prison. The door is open and he is free to go. But instead of leaving, he keeps living like a prisoner… sleeping on the floor… eating scraps… wearing chains that are not locked anymore…

That’s how a lot of believers live… free but not living free.

Close

Tonight God is not asking you to try harder, He is inviting you to live out who you already are.

You have been given a new life, but you have to live like it.

So ask yourself…

What do I need to delete?

What do I need to put on?

What needs to start ruling your heart?

Prayer

“Lord, help us to stop living beneath what You’ve already given us.

Renew our minds, reshape our hearts, and let our lives reflect Jesus in everything we do.

Teach us to walk in the new life we already have.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.”