And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

COLOSSIANS 3:14KJV
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Colossians 3:14 (KJV)

What does Colossians 3:14 mean?

Colossians 3:14 teaches that love—called "charity" in the King James Version—is the most important quality to put on, because it holds everything else together in complete unity. The verse pictures love as something you actively choose to "put on" over all other virtues, making it the essential bond for a mature, whole life.

Paul is writing to Christians in Colossae, encouraging them to live out new, Christ-like qualities. After listing virtues like kindness and patience, he tells them that love is what binds all these qualities together perfectly. The verse uses the image of getting dressed, with love as the final, most important piece.

The Greek behind Colossians 3:14

  • ἀγάπη (agapē): This is the word translated "charity" or "love," and it often refers to selfless, sacrificial love. Paul singles this out as the highest virtue, showing that all other good qualities depend on it.
  • σύνδεσμος (syndesmos): This word means "bond" or "tie." It carries the sense of something that fastens or holds things together, emphasizing that love is what unites all other virtues into a complete whole.
  • τελειότης (teleiotēs): Translated "perfectness," this word means completeness or maturity. Paul is saying that love is what brings all the virtues to their full, mature expression.

Why Colossians 3:14 matters

  • Colossians 3:14 clarifies that love is not just one virtue among many, but the one that makes all the others work together as they should.
  • The verse helps explain how Christian character is meant to function: without love, even good qualities can fall apart or lose their true purpose.
  • This verse connects to the larger passage, where Paul is describing what a renewed life in Christ looks like, showing that love is the key to genuine spiritual maturity.

Where else these words appear

“perfectness” Greek G5047 · used in 2 verses

  • Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

“bond” Greek G4886 · used in 4 verses

  • Acts 8:23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
  • Ephesians 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
  • Colossians 2:19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

“things” Greek G5125 · used in 19 verses

  • Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
  • Romans 15:23 But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you;
  • Hebrews 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

“charity” Greek G26 · used in 106 verses

  • Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
  • 2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.
  • 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.