Colossians 3:14 (DBY)

Passage

And to all these [add] love, which is the bond of perfectness.

Nearby Context

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as [the] elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering;

Colossians 3:13 forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any should have a complaint against any; even as the Christ has forgiven you, so also [do] *ye*.

Colossians 3:14 And to all these [add] love, which is the bond of perfectness.

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of Christ preside in your hearts, to which also ye have been called in one body, and be thankful.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of the Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another, in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "love", "bond", and "perfectness". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "love" and "bond", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "forbearing one another and forgiving one another..." into verse 15's "And let the peace of Christ preside...", so "love" and "bond" belong inside that flow. In Colossians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "love" and "bond" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.