Daily Devotional: Put Away the Old Life and Speak the Truth (Colossians 3:9)

The Text Set in Its Immediate Context

“Do not lie to one another, since you have stripped off the old personality with its practices.” (Colossians 3:9)

Paul’s command lands inside a tightly connected section where he presses baptized Christians to live consistently with the new life they have received in Christ. The verse does not float as a generic moral slogan. It stands on a completed action and a continuing obligation. The completed action is that Christians “have stripped off the old personality,” meaning the former way of thinking, valuing, speaking, and acting that belonged to life alienated from God. The continuing obligation is that Christians must refuse the specific practice that most naturally protects the old personality: deceit. Lying is not merely a social defect; it is a spiritual practice that preserves the old self and keeps it operational. That is why Paul ties the prohibition directly to identity. The Christian is not being asked to “try harder” to become someone else; he is being commanded to live in harmony with who he already is by God’s calling. This identity-driven ethic appears repeatedly in the New Testament, where the imperative rests on the indicative: “Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor.” (Ephesians 4:25)

The language of “stripping off” and “putting on” is deliberate. It describes a decisive break with the former life, comparable to taking off a garment and refusing to wear it again. Paul uses similar wording elsewhere: “You were taught… to put away the old personality… and to put on the new personality.” (Ephesians 4:22-24) The daily devotional force of Colossians 3:9 is that truth-telling is not optional for Christians who want deeper growth; it is part of basic Christian obedience. If the old personality thrives on misrepresentation, then truth is not only the correct speech; it is warfare against the flesh and against the devil’s designs.

Why Lying Is Spiritually Deadly

Scripture consistently treats lying as more than a momentary slip of the tongue. It is a chosen alignment with darkness. Jesus identifies Satan as the origin point of lying: “When he speaks the lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of the lie.” (John 8:44) That statement is not abstract. It means deceit has a spiritual lineage. When a person lies, he is not merely “managing outcomes”; he is borrowing a tool from the enemy’s workshop. This is why Proverbs joins lying with what Jehovah hates: “A lying tongue… a false witness who breathes out lies.” (Proverbs 6:16-19) The intensity of the language does not arise from social inconvenience but from covenant reality. Jehovah is the God of truth, and His people must reflect His moral character. “Jehovah is near to all who call on him… in truth.” (Psalm 145:18)

The old personality relies on lies because lies keep sin safe. Deceit hides motives, edits responsibility, and preserves pride. It can be loud and obvious, but it is often quiet and respectable. Half-truths, strategic silence meant to mislead, exaggerations to win approval, omissions to avoid consequences, and “spiritual-sounding” words that are not sincere all function as lying in the moral sense because they aim at deception rather than clarity. Scripture condemns “speaking falsehood” and also condemns the heart posture behind it: “Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceit; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets an ambush for him.” (Jeremiah 9:8) The danger is that deceit can become a habit of the soul—an entrenched practice—until the person begins to treat truth as optional whenever it costs him something.

The spiritual damage is profound. Lying corrodes fellowship because Christian unity is built on light. “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” (1 John 1:7) Deceit pushes relationships back into shadows. It also dulls the conscience. A believer who repeatedly lies to protect himself trains his conscience to accept darkness as normal. That path produces hardness, and hardness produces vulnerability to further sin. “Exhort one another day after day… so that none of you may be hardened by the deceptive power of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13) Deceit is not only what we do; it is what sin does to us when we cooperate with it.

The New Personality and the Discipline of Truth

Paul’s logic is not merely negative—“do not lie.” He grounds the command in transformation: “since you have stripped off the old personality with its practices.” (Colossians 3:9) The new personality does not simply avoid falsehood; it loves truth because it belongs to God. That is why Scripture connects conversion to a love for truth: “You have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth.” (1 Peter 1:22) Obedience to the truth is not limited to doctrines recited; it is truth embodied in daily speech and action. A Christian who speaks truth is not displaying mere honesty; he is displaying allegiance.

Colossians continues immediately by describing the new personality: it “is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.” (Colossians 3:10) Renewal in knowledge is not intellectual pride; it is moral clarity formed by God’s Word. If knowledge renews, then deception belongs to ignorance—whether willful or cultivated. The Christian grows by letting truth expose and correct him. This is why Scripture commends the one who welcomes correction: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” (Proverbs 27:6) Lies dodge wounds but multiply infection. Truth may sting, but it heals because it brings reality into the light.

This devotion should press one question into the heart: where do I feel the pressure to lie? The pressure point is often the place where the old personality is still trying to rule. The old self lies to preserve image, control outcomes, avoid loss, and protect comfort. The new self speaks truth because it fears Jehovah more than it fears people. “The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in Jehovah will be protected.” (Proverbs 29:25) Lying is frequently the language of fear. Truth-telling is frequently the language of faith.

Truth as Worship, Not Merely Accuracy

Many people can tell “facts” and still lie. Scripture is not impressed by technical correctness divorced from integrity. The devil himself can speak facts while aiming at deception, as seen when he quoted Scripture to Jesus while twisting it toward disobedience. (Matthew 4:6-7) Christian truthfulness is deeper than accuracy. It is sincerity, transparency, and moral consistency. “Now the goal of the command is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5) A sincere faith will not weaponize words to manipulate. It will not use “truth” as a club while hiding hypocrisy. It will not confess sin selectively in order to appear humble while concealing what would actually cost pride.

Jesus connects truth to worship: “True worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth.” (John 4:23) “Truth” here is not a generic idea; it is worship that aligns with God’s revealed reality. To live truthfully is to worship Jehovah with the whole life. When a Christian refuses deceit in the small moments—messages, explanations, excuses, self-presentation—he is offering worship. He is declaring that Jehovah deserves reality, not performance. “Jehovah takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his loyal love.” (Psalm 147:11) Hope in Jehovah’s loyal love frees the believer from needing lies to survive.

The Practical Battle: Speech, Memory, and Repentance

The tongue can become a battlefield because words are quick and consequences ripple. James warns that the tongue can set a whole course of life on fire. (James 3:5-6) That is why truthfulness must be disciplined, not romanticized. A believer who wants to obey Colossians 3:9 should treat speech as a stewardship before God. “Let your ‘Yes’ mean yes, and your ‘No,’ no.” (Matthew 5:37) The Christian aims at plain dealing, not rhetorical fog. When asked something, he resists the instinct to bend reality. When pressured, he does not buy peace with deception. When embarrassed, he does not rewrite the story to protect pride.

This includes honesty about sin. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous so that he may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Confession requires truth. A believer cannot grow while constantly narrating his life to make himself look righteous. Godly repentance starts when excuses end. David models this after being confronted: “I have sinned against Jehovah.” (2 Samuel 12:13) The Christian who wants freedom should practice swift truth: naming sin plainly before Jehovah, seeking forgiveness, and making restitution where needed. Zacchaeus demonstrates the fruit of genuine change by making restitution to those he defrauded. (Luke 19:8-9) Where lies have harmed others, truth requires repair, not merely regret.

The memory also matters. Many lies are sustained by selective remembering. Scripture calls believers to remember truthfully. “Be sure of what you were taught.” (2 Timothy 3:14) A renewed mind does not curate a personal mythology; it submits to God’s evaluation. “Search me, O God, and know my heart… and see if there is any harmful way in me.” (Psalm 139:23-24) That prayer is incompatible with self-deception. Truthfulness before God is the root from which truthfulness before people grows.

The Church as a Community of Light

Paul’s command, “Do not lie to one another,” assumes a community. Deceit is especially destructive inside the congregation because it tears trust, confuses counsel, and invites hypocrisy. The church is meant to be a place where truth and love meet. “Speaking truth in love, we are to grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15) Truth without love can become harshness. Love without truth becomes sentimental betrayal. In Christian growth, both must operate together: truth that aims at restoration, love that refuses to lie.

This also has spiritual warfare implications. When believers live in truth, they resist the devil’s primary instrument. Paul later describes the armor of God beginning with truth: “Stand firm therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.” (Ephesians 6:14) The belt imagery communicates readiness and stability. A Christian who lives in habitual deception is spiritually unstable; he is always adjusting stories, always protecting image, always maintaining the fragile architecture of lies. Truth stabilizes. Truth makes the believer ready for resistance. Truth gives the conscience a clear platform to stand on in prayer and obedience.

A Daily Devotional Prayer-Shaped Resolve

Jehovah does not call His people to truth because He enjoys crushing them with exposure. He calls them to truth because He is redeeming them into light. “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8) Today, resolve to speak plainly, confess quickly, and refuse the old personality’s instinct to protect itself with deception. Ask Jehovah for courage to face consequences rather than fabricate safety. Ask Him for humility to admit wrong without self-defense. Ask Him for love that makes truth restorative rather than sharp. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Jehovah.” (Psalm 19:14)

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