Getting rid of the rest

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.... don't skim over scriptures.

Colossians 3:9-17

9Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
12Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.


I don't have a real post for this yet. I just came across these in my reading up on "the old man", and the writing here in these verses simply takes my breath away. He waxes eloquent, "bowels of mercy" "humbleness of mind" "peace of God rule in your hearts" "bond of perfectness". He was excessively and wonderfully poetic and wordy, God knew I'd enjoy these verses more than most.

I'm reading these verses and thinking about the process of putting on the new man and casting off the old... denouncing the ME part of me. And I'm wondering if it would be accurate to read into verse 11, "there is neither Jeanette nor John, but Christ is all, and in all".
I was reading a series about Ruth over at John Frye's blog. In his last post about Ruth he throws in a quote by Eugene Peterson that reads “For the gospel does not address a faceless, nameless mob, but persons. The history of salvation is thick with names. The name is the form of speech by which a person is singled out for personal love, particular intimacy, and exact responsibilities.”

I like that quote. God knows my name. Personal love, particular intimacy, and exact responsibilities. I like that. I'm not trying to negate my personal worth to God or others when I talk about getting rid of "ME". But so often I'd like to hide behind the defensive statement of "This is just who I am" and refuse to step outside of that.
"God made me an introvert, so He won't ask me to do extroverted things." Dare I say that idea is hogwash? He created Hannah with a love for a child that was overwhelmingly strong. And asked her to give it up.
God knows my comfort zone, how foolish would I have to be to believe He'll only ask me to do things within that zone?

There is neither Jeanette and her comfort zones, but Christ and His willingness in her.

Just a thought on my way to giving up the old woman.