DAILY TEXT, From today Tuesday January 24, 2023, Take off the old personality and its practices (Col. 3:9).

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Tuesday January 24

Put away the old personality and its practices (Col. 3:9).

Jehovah tells us to get rid of bad thoughts and habits because he loves us very much and wants us to do well in life (Is. 48:17, 18). You know that if we let ourselves be carried away by bad desires, we hurt ourselves and others. And it hurts him to see that happen. Family members and friends may sometimes make fun of us because we are trying to change our personality (1 Pet. 4:3, 4). They may say that we have the right to live the way we want and that no one should tell us what to do. But those who reject Jehovah's standards are not truly free. In reality, they allow Satan's world to shape them (Rom. 12:1, 2). We all have a choice to make: either we stay with the old personality, which is the product of sin and Satan's world, or we let Jehovah transform us so that we are the best version of ourselves that we can be for now (Is. 64: 8). w22.03 3 pars. 6, 7.

What was our life like before we started studying the Bible?

WHAT was your life like before studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses? Many of us don't even like to think about it. Maybe our attitude and way of being reflected what the world says about what is right and what is wrong. If that was our case, we had no hope and were "without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12). But all that changed thanks to the study of the Bible.

What things did you learn as you studied the Bible?

As you studied the Bible, you learned that you have a heavenly Father who loves you very much. She realized that if she wanted to please Jehovah and be part of his family of servants, she would have to make major changes in her way of living and thinking. He would have to learn to respect God's high standards (Eph. 5:3-5).

According to Colossians 3:9, 10, what does Jehovah want us to do? And what will this article help us?

Since Jehovah is our Creator and our heavenly Father, he has the right to say how members of his family should behave. And to those who want to be baptized he says: “Put off the old personality and its practices”b (read Colossians 3:9, 10). Are you thinking of getting baptized? This article will help you answer three questions: What is “the old self”? Why does Jehovah want us to take it away? and how can we do it? And, if we are already baptized, this article will help us so that characteristics of "the old personality" do not appear in us again.

WHAT IS “THE OLD PERSONALITY”?

How does someone who lets himself be dominated by the old personality act?

Whoever allows himself to be dominated by "the old personality" usually thinks and acts according to the flesh, that is, with his sinful nature. You may be easily angered and selfish, ungrateful, and proud. Perhaps you like to be entertained by immoral or violent movies and pornography. Most likely, you have good qualities and you may even feel bad about what you say or do, but you lack motivation to change your way of thinking and acting (Gal. 5:19-21; 2 Tim. 3:2-5 ).

What balanced view should we have about what it means to throw off the old self? (Acts 3:19).

Because we are imperfect, none of us can completely eliminate bad thoughts and desires from our minds and hearts. Sometimes we will do or say something that we later regret (Jer. 17:9; Jas. 3:2). But, when we shed our old self, sinful attitudes and practices no longer dominate us or define us as people (Isa. 55:7; read Acts 3:19).

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