Scripture Daily

Context No. 992 of 4322 · Colossians

Context · Reflection

Colossians 3:12-16: in context

12Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. 14Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. 15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.

Paul tells the Colossians how to dress. As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another, and forgive each other as the Lord forgave you. Above all, put on love, which binds everything together in harmony. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude.

The image is of clothing, garments you deliberately put on each day. These virtues, compassion, kindness, patience, forgiveness, are not feelings you wait to have but a wardrobe you choose to wear, and Paul lists them as things you do on purpose, especially the hard one: forgive as the Lord forgave you. The standard is not how much the person deserves it but how much you were forgiven. Over all the other garments goes love, the belt that holds the outfit together. And notice the two things Paul says to let rule: let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Both are things you make room for rather than manufacture; you allow his peace to be the deciding voice and his word to take up residence in you, and one visible result is singing, the community teaching itself and worshiping in song with grateful hearts. It is a portrait of an ordinary Christian community held together not by natural compatibility but by chosen virtue, mutual forgiveness, and the word of Christ living among them.

Which of these garments do I most need to deliberately put on tomorrow, and whom am I called to forgive not because they deserve it but because the Lord forgave me?

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