Paragraph 3:12–14

Theme: Paul told the Colossians that since God loved them so much, they must love one another.

3:12a

Therefore: This connects back to 3:10. Paul was saying that since the Colossians had put on a new nature, they now should behave as God’s people should behave.

as: This means, “since you are…”

the elect of God: Paul listed three things about the Colossian believers. First he reminded them that they were the elect of God, that is, that God had chosen them to belong to him and be part of his people.

holy: Second, he reminded them that they were holy. In this context, it means “set apart, dedicated specially to God.” See the term “holy” in Key Biblical Terms and meaning 1 in the glossary.

beloved: Third, Paul reminded them that they were beloved. In this context, it means, “God loves you.”

3:12b

clothe yourselves: This is the same verb that Paul used in 3:10a (where the Berean Standard Bible translated it as “put on”). See the notes there. If you cannot use such a figure of speech in your language, you can translate the meaning directly: “Behave in these ways:…”

Paul then listed five ways the Colossians should behave. In some languages it will be necessary to translate each of these five nouns as a short sentence.

hearts of compassion: This means feelings of sympathy towards someone who needs help, showing concern for someone who needs help.

kindness: This is similar to “compassion.” It means acting in helpful, loving ways toward people.

humility: This is the same Greek word that Paul used in 2:18a and 2:23c. There the Berean Standard Bible translated it “false humility.” However, here it has a positive meaning. It means not being proud and arrogant. A person shows humility when he does not act as if he is better than other people.

gentleness: This means being willing to yield to others. A person shows gentleness when he is considerate of the rights and feelings of other people and does not insist on having his own way.

patience: This means calmly enduring unfair or unkind treatment by others—not becoming angry quickly when other people do something unpleasant. In the next sentence (3:13a), Paul used different words that mean almost the same thing as “being patient.”

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