If You’re Serious,Act Like It//Verified:Unfollow The False You//Pastor Elijah Eldredge//Alive Church

Paul tells the church, if they are serious about this resurrection life with Christ, they should act like it. A lesson about “working smarter, not harder” turns into a mirror: the things a person doesn’t take seriously, they don’t honor. Old mindsets that barely got someone by in one season don’t fit in a new one, and that is exactly how new life in Jesus works. Christ gives a new identity, and then the old way begins to feel out of place. The claim lands simple and sharp: don’t want the identity of Jesus without the lifestyle of Jesus.

Colossians 3 lays out a blueprint. First, the text sets the believer’s focus: “Set your hearts on things above… set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Focus forms. Money forms greed, comfort forms compromise, social media forms distraction, comparison forms insecurity, shame forms a self. Looking to where Christ is seated reforms the self. Forgetting what is behind is not denial, it is a refusal to let the past define the horizon. The disciple who looks up starts to grow up.

Second, the passage tells the church to take off the old. “Put to death” is blunt because the old wardrobe no longer fits. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, lies — the Spirit makes those familiar clothes feel small and scratchy. Conviction isn’t God shaming someone; it is Christ tailoring them for a life he already purchased. A person who belongs to Jesus cannot keep wearing what Jesus died to free them from.

Third, the text calls them to put on the new. The order matters: “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves…” Identity precedes imitation. Because the church is already chosen and loved, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and above all love now match the label inside the coat. This is not a performance to get accepted; it is alignment with an acceptance already given. In ordinary moments — choosing kindness when rudeness is justified, embracing second place, forgiving when offense is earned — the new life shows.

The question isn’t, is anyone perfect? The question is, is anyone serious? Jesus didn’t just save people from something; he saved them for something. So the call stands: put some Jesus on, let practice catch up to grace, and watch rooms change when a Christ-shaped life walks in.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Set your focus on Christ above. What a person stares at starts shaping them. Attention is spiritual formation, so fixation on the past, on money, or on image will deform the soul into those very things. Directing mind and heart toward where Christ is seated reforms desire and clarifies identity. Looking up is how a disciple grows up. [14:54]
• 2. Old clothes don’t fit anymore. Paul’s “put to death” confronts not to condemn but to expose misfit. The Spirit makes former comforts feel small and scratchy, from lust to little lies to throwaway profanity. That dissonance is mercy, signaling that belonging has changed. Taking off the old honors the One who paid to free the wearer from it. [19:37]
• 3. Identity comes before imitation. The gospel order is mercy first, ethics second. Because the beloved are already chosen and dearly loved, compassion and humility now match the label inside the coat. Practices are not bids for acceptance but the overflow of having been received. Putting on love binds every virtue into a single Christ-shaped life. [25:10]
• 4. Kindness over rights changes rooms. New life looks like gentleness when rudeness feels justified. Yielding the right to be first or to clap back makes space for Christ’s presence to meet ordinary people in ordinary places. Such choices retrain the heart to prefer others and dethrone the ego. That is not weakness, but power under control. [26:44]
• 5. If you’re serious, act like it. Resurrection identity presses into habits, speech, priorities, and reflexes. This is not earning, it is alignment, letting behavior catch up to grace already given. Putting some Jesus on is a daily decision to match conduct with calling. Over time, that fidelity turns a person into light in dark rooms. [09:25]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [02:05] - Group project freeloaders
• [03:04] - Syllabus hack confession
• [04:26] - ALI correction and hard lesson
• [06:01] - What you don’t honor won’t change
• [06:55] - Are you gonna take this serious
• [08:17] - Wanting identity without lifestyle
• [09:25] - If you’re serious, act like it
• [10:16] - Colossians 3 read aloud
• [13:17] - Set focus, take off, put on
• [14:54] - Set your focus on things above
• [18:22] - Put to death the old ways
• [19:37] - It doesn’t fit you anymore
• [24:39] - Clothe yourself in Christ’s virtues
• [29:44] - Act like it - put on Jesus

Bible Reading
Colossians 3:1-14 (ESV)
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

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Observation questions

1. Colossians 3:1-2 instructs believers to “set your hearts” and “set your minds” on things above. What specific contrast does Paul make between “things above” and “earthly things” in the passage?
2. The sermon mentions three steps for living out the new life in Christ: “set your focus, take off the old, put on the new” [13:17]. How does Colossians 3:5-14 reflect this structure?
3. What are the “old clothes” listed in verses 5-9, and what are the “new clothes” listed in verses 12-14?
4. The sermon states, “Identity precedes imitation” [25:10]. How does Colossians 3:12 support this idea?

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Interpretation questions

1. Why does Paul use the metaphor of “clothing” (putting off/putting on) to describe the process of spiritual growth? What does this imply about how change happens in a believer’s life?
2. The sermon says, “Focus forms” — meaning what we fixate on shapes our character [16:10]. How might setting our minds on “things above” (Col. 3:2) practically reorient daily priorities or habits?
3. Paul commands believers to “put to death” sinful behaviors (v. 5) but also says they are “holy and dearly loved” (v. 12). How do these two ideas work together rather than contradict each other?
4. The sermon argues that conviction about sin is “not God shaming someone; it is Christ tailoring them” [19:37]. How does this perspective change how we respond to feelings of guilt or failure?

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Application questions

1. The passage says greed is idolatry (v. 5). What modern “earthly things” (comfort, social media, money, etc.) most easily distract you from setting your focus on Christ? [16:23] What small step could you take this week to redirect your attention?
2. The sermon asks, “When was the last time you felt ‘scratchy’ in an old habit or mindset that no longer fits your identity in Christ?” [19:37] Name one specific attitude or behavior that feels increasingly mismatched with who Jesus says you are.
3. “Putting on love binds every virtue into a single Christ-shaped life” [25:45]. Which virtue from Colossians 3:12-14 (patience, humility, forgiveness, etc.) do you most need to intentionally “wear” in your relationships this month?
4. The sermon challenges, “Choose kindness when rudeness is justified” [26:44]. Describe a recent situation where you had the “right” to be harsh or defensive. How could responding like Jesus have changed the dynamic?
5. Paul says lying doesn’t fit believers anymore (v. 9). What “little lies” (exaggerations, half-truths, silent deceptions) do you need to confront in your speech? [21:03]
6. The sermon asks, “Does my life look like the new life Jesus gave me?” [14:54] What one area of your life (work, family, private habits) most urgently needs to align with your identity as “chosen and dearly loved”?