The arrival of daylight savings time a few weeks ago had me back putting on an extra layer of clothing for my morning run.

That extra layer is a super bright, reflective safety vest, which helps me to “be safe, be seen” in the pre-dawn darkness that was “sprung forward” by the changing of the clocks.

While putting on the safety vest the other morning, I was reminded of the Bible verse that says: “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…But above all these things put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:12, 14).

Part of the reason I made the connection between the safety vest and the Bible verse, I am sure, is because of the “layer” that they had in common.  Just as a safety vest is put on over everything else, so too the Bible verse tells us to put on love over everything else.

But I also see another connection between the two. Just as putting on love over everything else is a way to show others that we care about them, so too does putting on a safety vest when we go out for a run.

 By making ourselves more visible to motorists when we’re working out in the dark, we help to spare them the trauma of coming close to or actually hitting us. In that way, wearing a bright reflective safety vest can be an act of kindness.

I’ve never felt a big need to put on a safety vest when running in the dark because most of my running shoes and clothes have reflective strips on them. But lately I’ve been thinking that the extra visibility offered by putting on a safety vest is a good idea.

Just as lately I’ve been thinking more often that putting on love over everything else is a good idea as well.