Put Off, Put On: Letting Go of the Old Nature

This reflection opens with a simple, relatable image: the author finally throwing out a beloved but worn-out pair of sneakers, and the reluctance we all feel about letting go of things that no longer serve us. From there it turns to St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (4:17-25), read at the end of the week, in which Paul urges believers to 'put off your old nature' and 'put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God.' The post walks through the passage in three movements.

First, Paul's stark description of the old pagan life—futility of mind, darkened understanding, hardness of heart, callousness, greed for uncleanness—is shown to be not freedom but slavery: to confusion, habit, and a way of living that only feels comfortable because it is familiar. Second, the renewal begins in the mind itself: 'be renewed in the spirit of your minds.' The author connects this to metanoia, noting that change starts the moment we honestly admit we need it, and links the 'new nature' to the Orthodox practice of calling the newly baptized and chrismated 'newly illumined.' Third, the new nature is nothing less than theosis—a nature created after the very likeness of God—and this work is not merely private self-improvement but communal: believers support, encourage, and learn from one another because they share this new nature in common.

The reflection then turns to the day's saint, St. Euphrosyne of Alexandria, a fifth-century woman who disguised herself as a man to enter a monastery and spent decades in hidden asceticism, putting off her old identity, family, and social role entirely to put on Christ. It closes with a personal challenge—asking whether readers still wear the old nature, or try to wear both at once—and a simple prayer asking Christ to forgive our forgetfulness and help us become who He made us to be.