Colossians 3:7 tells believers that the sinful habits they once practiced were part of the life they used to live, before Christ changed them. Paul is reminding the church in Colossae that they were not always the people they are now, so they should not treat those old patterns as normal or harmless. The verse was written by Paul, who is traditionally named as the author of this letter, and it was addressed to the Christian community at Colossae, a city in western Asia Minor.
You also once walked in those, when you lived in them…
Colossians 3:7 (WEB)
What Colossians 3:7 Means
The phrase “You also once walked in those” uses the image of walking, which in biblical language describes a whole way of living, not a single act. Paul is saying that these believers had once moved through life in a particular direction, shaped by the desires listed just before this verse, such as sexual immorality, impurity, and greed. The word “also” links them to the wider human condition, so they are not being singled out as especially bad. They share a common past with everyone who has not yet known Christ.
The second half, “when you lived in them,” makes the point personal and concrete. Paul is not describing a theory of sin but the actual daily experience of the Colossians before their conversion. The verse does not promise that Christians will never struggle again, and it does not say they are beyond temptation. What it does affirm is that a real change has taken place, so that the old way of walking is no longer where they belong.
The Context of Colossians 3:7
Colossians was written to a church Paul had not personally founded, responding to concerns about false teaching and to encourage believers to live out their new identity in Christ. Paul’s argument in chapter 3 moves from the reality that believers have been raised with Christ to the practical question of how that should show in behavior. Verse 7 sits at the hinge of this argument, looking back at the old life before turning to what the new life requires.
The verses just before it list the vices to be put to death, and the verses after it describe the vices to be put away and the virtues to be put on. Read in this setting, verse 7 is not a sweeping judgment on the Colossians’ former selves. It is a reminder that their past conduct was tied to a way of life now left behind, and this helps explain why Paul moves so quickly to urging a clear break with those habits.
Key Phrases in Colossians 3:7
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
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This verse describes the new creation that comes through being in Christ, the same contrast between an old life and a new one that Paul draws in Colossians. Reading it alongside Colossians 3:7 helps explain why the former way of walking no longer fits the believer.
Ephesians 4:22-24
22 That you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit; 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
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Paul uses similar language here, speaking of putting off the old self and putting on the new. Together with Colossians 3:7, this passage shows that the change Paul describes is an ongoing process of renewal rather than a single moment.
A Short Prayer From Colossians 3:7
Father, thank you that my past does not have to define the way I live now. You have called me out of the patterns I once walked in, and I ask you to help me remember that they belong to a life I have left behind. Give me the courage to turn away from the habits that still tempt me, and help me to treat others with the same mercy you have shown me. Keep me walking in the new life you have given. Amen.
