Day 17: Love Is the Bond
What holds your life together when everything feels scattered? Paul tells us that love is the glue that holds everything together
Scripture: Colossians 3:14 (WEB)
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
Of all the virtues that shape a life of faith—kindness, patience, joy—Paul tells us to put love above them all. Why? Because love is what ties every other virtue together. It's the glue that steadies our inner world, the thread that binds our families and communities. Most profoundly, love is our deepest connection to God.
Without love, even the most devout spiritual practices lose their meaning. Without love, community becomes commonality. Sacrifice becomes activity without purpose. But when love is present, everything changes. Love transforms our actions, our relationships, and even our pain into something sacred.
When Paul describes the bond of love as “perfection,” he doesn’t mean being perfect – he means being “complete.” Walking in love is living a complete life, shaped and guided by God’s love for us. Love doesn’t ignore brokenness; it gathers the fragments of our humanity and binds them into something holy.
Consider the Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with golden glue. The cracks aren’t hidden – they’re honored, transformed into something beautiful. That’s what love does. It brings wholeness to our fractured places and makes them shine.
Practice for Today: Choose Love First
Today, before responding, deciding, or reacting to whatever happens today, pause and ask:
“What does love look like right now?”
Let this be your compass. Whether you're speaking to a friend, completing a task, or just sitting with your own thoughts, let love be the bond that holds it all together.
Journaling Prompt
Where in my life do I need to love and be loved again? What does it look like to let love take the lead?
Pray As You Go
Inhale: I walk in love…
Exhale: …the bond of perfection.
Closing Blessing
Let love be the glue that binds your broken heart into God’s.
Ask God to weave the thread of love into a beautiful tapestry in your world.
Allow the bond of love to restore, untie, and complete all that is bent and broken.
Walk boldly through your day – covered, directed, and held together by the golden bond of God’s love for you.