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Scripture • World English Bible
Colossians 3:12–17
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.
17Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain
Reflection
Paul summons the Colossians to live out the reality of being God’s chosen people by putting on the new self. The traits he names are concrete and communal: compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, perseverance. These are marks of the people formed by Christ, not optional accessories. Bearing with one another and forgiving grievances is rooted in the gospel—“even as Christ forgave you, so you also do”—so forgiveness is both received and given as a defining way of life. "Above all these things, walk in love" shows that love binds and matures the community and undergirds every other virtue. When the peace of God rules in our hearts, it reshapes relationships because that peace is tied to our calling in one body. Paul then moves from character to worship and formation: let the word of Christ dwell in you richly so teaching, admonition, and praise flow from Scripture-saturated hearts, expressed together in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Finally, the apostle sets a daily test for Christian conduct: whatever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus—acting under his authority, representing him, and giving thanks to the Father through him.
Repentance is serious and practical: it means turning from sinful patterns and intentionally replacing them with the virtues Paul names—compassion, kindness, humility, patience, forgiveness—so Christ’s life, not our performance, shapes how we live and relate.
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Prayer
Father, thank you that you have chosen us and given us a new identity in Christ. Help us to turn from the sinful patterns that wound us and hinder our witness, and to embrace the new life you give. Fill our hearts with compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, perseverance, and a forgiving spirit. By your Holy Spirit, shape our words and deeds so that your peace rules in our hearts and the word of Christ dwells richly among us. Give us grateful hearts and grace to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to you through him. Amen.
Memory Verse
Colossians 3:17 — Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (WEB)
“Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Bible Context
Read all of Colossians 3
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Bible Context
Read all of Colossians 3
Colossians 3
World English Bible • WEB
1If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
2Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
5Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
6For these things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
7You also once walked in those, when you lived in them,
8but now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.
9Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
10and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
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.
17Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
18Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.
20Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, don’t provoke your children, so that they won’t be discouraged.
22Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.
23And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
25But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.
World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain
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