In our short study of Colossians 3:1-14, we have talked about setting our hearts and minds on things above, getting rid of whatever is in our earthly nature, and recognizing our place as royalty to help us act like royalty to help our children do the same. We talked about getting dressed in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience so we have those things to give to our children. We covered forgiving as we have been forgiven by God. That’s a big list of practical things to be working on as we parent. The last verse in this section is the cherry on top… or really the cherry syrup poured over the whole sundae. Colossians 3:14 says, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
A couple years ago, I taught my children the full armor of God from Ephesians 6:14-17 as I took them to school. We would pray that Scripture over our family each day. One morning one of my children asked, “What about love? Aren’t we supposed to love people, too? Maybe we could put on love like a cloak or something.” I remembered this verse in Colossians 3, we read it and talked about how to make loving others the priority in all our relationships. Then we added “and the cloak of love which covers it all” to our prayer time each morning.
It reminds me of the cloak that was given to Frodo in The Lord of the Rings that covers him and makes him invisible. Jesus’ love does that for us. It covers all our sins, so that what is seen is our cloak, God’s covering and protection.
This reminds me of a HUGE blanket I was given years ago that stays in our living room. On particularly chilly evenings when we are watching something as a family, it is not uncommon for me to be in the middle of two kiddos with another one at my feet all covered up by this blanket. That’s what our love should be like – covering all God has given us and bringing it all together in unity, warm and cozy.
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8
May the love of God cover over all the ways each of us fall short as parents and draw our children closer to Him!
What is something that stood out to you from this study that you want to teach your children?