Daily Reading for Personal Growth, 40 Days with God

Footnotes

1. Colossians 3:1 It is not a question here of having contempt for earthly realities but of a new movement by which Christians must let themselves be grasped. Seemingly, Baptism has changed nothing for them, but in reality they live henceforth united to Christ in an even more mysterious manner. They have entered the world of the Resurrection. It is a certitude that transforms the idea that they have of their existence. At the same time, it is an impatient longing for the return of the Lord, when this change in their lives will be made complete.
2. Colossians 3:5 This is a Christian endeavor, something that expresses the reality of life and the transformation of Baptism, and something that enables believers to become each day a bit more what they, in fact, are, i.e., living members of the risen Christ. Morality is then no longer a list of recommended reactions but a thrust that opposes sin and degradation, a growth in an ever more profound affinity with the Lord. United with Christ, Christians are new persons who no longer identify themselves by cultural references or by ethical and religious differences. Union with Christ basically destroys all divisions (see Gal 3:28).
3. Colossians 3:5 See Rom 1:29-31 and Gal 5:19-21 for other lists of vices.
4. Colossians 3:11 Scythian: the Scythians lived on the steppes of Asia and were regarded as barbarians par excellence.