Colossians 3:12-17
Chapter 3
12
Clothe yourselves, then, as is fitting for God’s chosen people, holy and beloved by him. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience
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to bear with one another and forgive whenever there is an opportunity. As the Lord has forgiven you, forgive one another.
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Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
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May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts; for this purpose, you were called to be one body. And be thankful.
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Let the word of God dwell in you richly. Teach and admonish one another with wisdom. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spontaneous praise to God
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And whatever you do or say, do it in the Name of Jesus the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Commentaries
Christian Praxis.
Truly Christian behavior results from a radical transformation (cf. Eph 4:24) that impacts the believer both personally and socially; it involves shedding the old self and adopting a new way of being and living in the world. This ongoing shedding requires seriousness and commitment—an attitude Paul alludes to with the phrase “put to death worldly things from your life” (5). He then addresses the sins that harm the harmony of relationships: “anger, passion, malice… falsehood” (8f). All of these belong to the old condition, to the old self (cf. Rom 6:6).
Conversely, adopting the new condition, which is the same as putting on Christ (cf. Rom 13:12, 14; Gal 3:27), primarily means entering into the movement of a new creation where men and women are being renewed “in the image of their Creator” (10). Paul reflects the biblical tradition that, in the new times—the eschatological times—a return to the peace and harmony of paradise is anticipated (cf. Is 11:6-9). And if being “the image of God” gives true dignity to every human being, then all barriers that divide and discriminate must vanish: “There is no distinction between Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, foreigner, slave or free—for Christ is all and in all” (11).