GET TOGETHER- PUT IT ON AND DON’T TAKE IT OFF
Col 3:14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
As I was pasting this passage in it was almost like I could hear my Mother or grandmother telling me to put on something and not to take it off. It could have been a coat, or a cap with earmuffs on it on a cold day during my childhood. Or perhaps it was a life jacket when we went either swimming in the river, or out on a boat with daddy when we were kids. I am not sure when, but I know why. It was for our best interest. It was for our safety so that we could continue to be a part of this game called life. And for our health so that we wouldn’t catch a cold or something that would make us sick.
The Apostle Paul has just given the church at Colossae some good instructions on what they were to put on. He told them in verse 12 to put on five things: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.” In verse 13 He tells them to bear with one another and commands them to forgive one another.
All of what I just listed was good. But to be honest they couldn’t put those things on and neither can we without this final thing that Paul tells us that we must put on. And that is love. The Greek term for love here is agape, ag-ah’-pay. It means to love someone or something based on great appreciation and high regard. People come to congregations from many different back grounds with our own strengths, weakness, and all kinds of quirks. Some like it loud. Some like it soft. Some like it cool while others like it a little warm. Some like this team and some like that team.
But as Christians we are to put on such love and have such a high regard for one another that all those things don’t have an adverse effect on our relationships with one another. The Greek term here for bond is sundesmos, soon’-des-mos. It means that which ties us together. It means that which unites us. Love is that bond.
Actually it is the love that as one old hymn goes is as vast as an ocean. It is the love that was poured out as a sacrifice for our sins on Calvary’s cross by the greatest Love of all time. The Lord Jesús Christ.
Not only does this love bind us together, but it will perfect us. The Greek term here for love is teleiotes, tel-i-ot’-ace. It means maturity in thought and behavior. There are 323 verses in the Bible that have the word love in them in some form. There are 184 in the New Testament.
Jesus didn’t think that that this love stuff was just a good idea. He said that loving God and loving our neighbor were the greatest commandments. Mt 22:37-39 Jesus said to him,” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment” “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Do you remember me talking about perhaps it was a coat my Mother or grandmother was telling me to put on as a child? Think about it this way. If it had been a cold wet snowy day those other clothes wouldn’t have functioned like they were supposed to if I had not had on my coat. In the same way if you want to see tender mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, and long suffering in your life, your family’s life, the workplace, and your local congregation put on love. It is the perfect solution for the follower of Jesus Christ.
Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus we thank You that Your love is perfect. Your love never fails. Today make us a people who love as You love.
In Jesus Name
Amen
1Co 13:8 Love never fails.
Your Friend/Kinfolk
Preston
