A New Man

i was reading in the book of Ephesians about Paul saying that we need to put on the "new self" when we become Christians. What does that mean? I thought it was a strange phrase so i tried to get my thoughts together on it and here they are. What do you think it means to put on the "new self" or to put off the "old self"? This section of scripture is in the book of Ephesians, chapter 4, verses 17-32.

For the “new man” to be put on, there must be a renewing of the mind in accordance with the will of God. Primary in the old self is that they were “alienated from the life of God” (v18) and so the first thing to do is get in line with what God has for your life. This starts in relationship with Him through Christ. Until that step is taken, no new man is there to be put on because the Bible actually says that we are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1). Dead men don’t put on new men! But this new creation that has been born in the relationship with Jesus must then grow in transformation towards Christ-likeness. For this to happen, the old self must first be put off – a ship cannot take in new cargo without first getting rid of the first batch! We need to consciously seek to put to death all the things Paul mentions here (lying, malice, unforgiveness, etc) and then consciously seeking to do the things that Paul goes on to mention, forgiveness, speaking truth that builds each other up, being kind and forgiving (v25-32). This “putting on” of the new self is a continual process throughout our Christian lives – clearly Paul understood this when he listed all these great ideals of Christian living. He didn’t expect perfection but growth in all these areas. In both of these actions, putting off and putting on, we need to seek grace from God because the same grace that forgives us for the things we need to put off also gives us strength and life to live for Him. In effect, this gets us back to the first problem, of living a life outside of the life and will of God.
Essential to putting on this new man is that there must be a renewing of the mind, which comes in large part by the active work of the living Word of God (Rom 12.2, Heb 4.12). As we read the Word, the Holy Spirit convicts us to live a different way, something that looks like a living sacrifice to God.
I had many things that I needed to put off in my life, and it was only by these conscious actions of repentance and receiving grace that I was able to do it. I literally had to stop calling my old drug dealing friends and from hanging out in very dangerous situations. I spent a lot of time in prayer and fellowship, as well as getting into the word and by the grace of God and the help of friends, I was able to put off many of my destructive behaviors and start putting on the new self.