Clothed In Love: A Wedding-Day Charge From Colossians 3
Friends, we have gathered today for one of the most joyful occasions in human life. Two people are standing before God and before all of us, ready to make a covenant that will shape every day that follows. Before the vows are spoken and the rings are exchanged, the Word of God has something to say to all of us, and especially to the two of you.
Open your hearts to Colossians 3, beginning at verse 12. The apostle Paul writes these words to the church at Colossae, and they speak just as directly into a marriage as they do into any Christian community. Listen to what the Spirit says.
"Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with one another and forgive one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since you were called to one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Notice how Paul opens this passage. He does not begin with a list of rules. He begins with identity. You are chosen. You are holy. You are dearly loved by God. Everything that follows flows from that foundation. The garments Paul describes, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, are not achievements you earn through willpower. They are the natural clothing of people who know they have been loved first by God through Jesus Christ.
This is the heart of Christian marriage. You are not two people who have simply found each other. You are two people who have been found by God, forgiven by Christ, and now called to extend that same grace to one another every single day.
Paul is honest about what marriage will require. He says to bear with one another and to forgive one another. That language assumes there will be moments when bearing with each other is necessary. There will be days when forgiveness is not easy. The promise of the gospel is not that marriage will be without difficulty. The promise is that the same mercy God showed you in Christ is the mercy you can now show each other. Your marriage does not run on your own strength. It runs on grace.
Then Paul reaches the summit of the passage. Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Every other virtue he has named finds its completion in love. Love is not merely a feeling that arrived on this day. Love is a decision you will make again tomorrow morning, and the morning after that, and on every ordinary Tuesday for the rest of your lives together.
So here is your charge as you begin. Let the peace of Christ rule in your home. Let the word of Christ dwell richly there. Sing together, pray together, give thanks together. And in whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. When you do that, you are not just building a marriage. You are bearing witness to a watching world that the love of God is real.
May the Lord who called you to one another keep you faithful to one another. May your home be marked by grace, your years by gratitude, and your love by the enduring character of the One who first loved you.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sources Consulted
Moo, Douglas J. The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.
Wright, N. T. Colossians and Philemon. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986.
Garland, David E. Colossians and Philemon. NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.
Schreiner, Thomas R. Paul, Apostle of God's Glory in Christ. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001.
Thielman, Frank. Theology of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.
Before preaching: verify every biblical reference, replace general language only with couple-approved details, and revise the message in your own Christian tradition and pastoral voice.