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150 Bible verses to confront hatred and resentment
What I tell you is this: You should love the people who want to hurt you. If people cause you to have trouble, pray that God would help them.
My friends, if someone has done bad things to you, do not try to punish them yourselves. Instead, let God be angry with them and punish them. This is what is written in the Bible: ‘The Lord God says, “When people do something wrong, I am the one who will punish them. I will pay them back.” ’
Do not become like the people who belong to this world. But let God completely change the way that you think, so that you live differently. Then you will understand what God wants you to do. You will know what is good. You will know what pleases God. You will know what is completely right.
Instead, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. If you help your enemy, he will become ashamed. He will be sorry because of what he did to you.’
Do not let evil things win against you! Instead, do good things. Then you will win against the evil things that people do.
Do not be jealous of other people. Do not become angry or shout at them. Do not quarrel with other people or insult them. Do not do anything or say anything that will hurt other people.
Instead, help each other and be kind to each other. Forgive one another. Remember that God has forgiven you because of what Christ has done.
Do not become angry with each other. If you think that someone has done something wrong against you, forgive them. Remember that the Lord has forgiven you. So you should also forgive other people.
Someone might say, ‘I love God.’ But if he says that and he hates another Christian, he is telling a lie. He does not love other believers that he can see. So he surely cannot love God when he cannot see God.
This is the command that God has given us: Anyone who loves him must love other Christians too.
If I love people, I will be patient. I will be kind. I will not be jealous of other people. I will not be proud or boast.
If I love people, I will be polite. I will not just want to please myself. I will not quickly become angry. If someone does a wrong thing against me, I will not keep it in my thoughts.
If people do bad things to you, do not do anything bad to them in return. If people insult you, do not insult them in return. Instead, pray that God will bless those people. That is what God wants you to do. Then you will receive the gift of God's blessing.
Then Jesus said, ‘When other people do wrong things against you, you must forgive them. Then God, your Father in heaven, will also forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.
But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive you.’
If someone has done bad things against you, do not do bad things back to them. Try to live in a good way, so that people will respect you.
If it is possible, always try to live in peace with other people.
If you answer people in a kind way, it stops them being angry. But if you say cruel things, it makes people angry.
But God's Spirit causes us to live in a different way. We love other people. We are happy and we have peace in our minds. We are patient, kind and good. People can trust us to do what is right.
We respect other people and we control ourselves properly. God's Spirit helps us to live in that way. There is no law that says these things are wrong.
If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat. If he is thirsty, give him some water to drink.
If you help him, he will become ashamed, and the Lord will bless you with good things.
Understand this, my Christian friends: We must all be careful to listen. We should not be too quick to speak. We should not get angry quickly.
My Christian friends, remember to be happy, even when many kinds of trouble happen to you. Troubles can help you.
God wants us to do what is right. But when someone is angry, they do not do those right things.
Jesus then said, ‘I say this to you who are listening carefully to me. Love the people who want to hurt you. Do good things to people that hate you.
Say good things to people that say bad things against you. Pray for people who give you pain.
If you love other people, you will never do anything bad to them. So anyone who loves other people has obeyed God's Law completely.
Anyone who hates other believers is like someone who murders other people. You know that a person like that does not have true life with God.
Continue to love each other very much. That is more important than anything else. If you love people, you will forgive them for any wrong things that they have done.
If you forgive people when they hurt you, they will still love you. But if you continue to talk about what they have done, they will no longer be your friends.
If someone does something bad against you, do not do anything bad against them in return. Never do that. Instead, always try to do good things that will help each other and help everyone else.
Because God loves us, none of these troubles can ever beat us. He makes us win against them.
I am sure of this. Nothing can stop God from loving us. Death cannot do that. Life cannot do that. Angels cannot do that, nor can demons do that. Nothing that happens to us now, or that will happen in the future can do that. No powerful spirits can do that. Nothing that is high above the world can do that, nor anything that is deep down below the ground. Nothing else in the whole universe can stop God from loving us. Because of our Lord Christ Jesus, we know how much God loves us.
When you are angry, do not do anything bad as a result. Once the day comes to an end, do not continue to be angry.
Now my friends, I want to say this to you. Fill your minds with thoughts about good things. Think about things that are true, clean, right and lovely. Always think about things which people know are very good.
So do the good things for other people that you would want them to do for you. That is true in everything you do. That is what God's Law and the messages of God's prophets teach us.’
My friends, we should all love each other. It is God who makes us able to love other people. Everyone who loves other people has become a child of God. That person knows God.
Anyone who does not love other people does not know God. We know this because God's own nature is love.
Be careful how you live. If another believer does something wrong, warn him about it. He may say, “I am sorry for what I did. I will not do it again.” If he says that, you must forgive him.
It will happen quickly like that, on the day when I, the Son of Man, show myself clearly.
On that day, a person who is up on the roof of his house must not go back down into the house. He must not get his things that are inside the house to take with him. In the same way, people that are working outside in their fields must not go back to their homes.
Remember what happened to Lot's wife.
Whoever wants to keep his own life safe will lose it. But whoever agrees to lose his life will have true life.
I tell you this. At that time, two people will be sleeping in one bed. God will take one of them away but he will leave the other one behind.
Two women will be preparing food together in the same place. God will take one of them away but he will leave the other one behind.’
Jesus' disciples asked him, ‘Lord, where will this happen?’ Jesus replied, ‘If a dead body is lying somewhere, vultures will come together in that place.’
Your brother may do a bad thing against you seven times in one day. He may come to you each time and say, “I am sorry for what I did. I will not do it again.” If he does that, you must forgive him every time.’
And when we hope like that, we will not become disappointed. This is because we know that God loves us very much. God has given his Holy Spirit to be with us. The Holy Spirit causes us to know God's love very well.
A person who is patient is better than a brave soldier. If you can control your anger, you can win any battle.
But if God makes you really wise, you will live in a completely good way. That is the most important thing. Also, you will live in a way that brings peace. You will be kind to other people so that they become your friends. You will listen to them and not argue. You will forgive them and do many good things to help them. You will not choose between people. And you will not be a hypocrite.
Those who bring peace to other people help them to live together in peace. As a result, people choose to do what is right and good.
If I love people, I will not be happy when wicked things happen. Instead, I will be happy when things happen that are right and true.
If I love people, I will always accept their problems. I will always believe them. I will always hope for what is best. I will always be patient in any kind of trouble.
If someone is wise, he controls his anger. When anyone hurts him, he is careful to forget it.
I give a new rule to you. Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you.
In this way, everyone will know that you are my disciples. They will know it, if you really love each other.’
Then Peter came to talk to Jesus. He asked, ‘Lord, if another believer does wrong things against me many times, how many times should I forgive him? Must I forgive him as many as seven times for the wrong things that he has done against me?’
Jesus replied, ‘I do not say only seven times. I say you should forgive him 77 times!’
So then, in every place where you meet together, I want the men to pray. The men who lift up their hands and pray must be those who live good lives. They must not be people who are angry or who quarrel with others.
Yes, my Lord, you are very kind, and you are ready to forgive people. When anyone calls to you for help, you love them with your faithful love.
My friends, if you see that someone among you is doing something wrong, you must warn them. Those of you who have God's Spirit should warn that person. Show them how to live in a good way. But you must be kind and patient with them. Be very careful yourselves, so that it does not cause you to do wrong things too.
You are God's children and he loves you very much. So you must try to be like him.
You should learn more and more to do the things that please the Lord.
People whose minds are in the dark do things that have no good purpose. Keep away from wrong things like that. Instead, show how bad those things really are.
People like that should be ashamed of the things that they do secretly. Those things are too bad for us even to talk about.
But when God's light shines on something, people can see clearly its true nature.
Everything that becomes clear to see is in the light. That is why it says: ‘Wake up, you people who are asleep! Rise up from among the dead people! Then Christ will shine his light on you.’
So you must be very careful how you live. Live like people who are wise. Do not live like fools.
Many bad things are happening in these days. So, whenever you have a chance to do something good, do as much as you can.
Do not live like fools. But instead, understand what the Lord wants you to do.
Do not drink too much wine so that you become drunk. That will destroy your life. Instead, let God's Spirit fill you.
He will help you to speak to each other with all kinds of spiritual songs. Sing psalms from the Bible, and Christian songs. Praise the Lord with songs from inside yourselves.
Show that you love other people. Remember how much Christ loved us. He gave himself as a sacrifice on our behalf. He offered himself in a way that pleased God, like a sacrifice with a lovely smell.
Jesus said, ‘Father, these soldiers do not know what they are doing. So please forgive them.’ The soldiers then picked up Jesus' clothes for themselves. They played a game with dice to decide who would receive each piece of his clothes.
God will not forgive anyone who has not forgiven other people. But God is kind! He judges us, but even more than that, he forgives us!
So we should try to live in a way that brings peace. We should help each other to become stronger as God's people.
When you forgive anyone, I also forgive that person. Whatever bad thing somebody has done, I have Christ's authority to forgive them. And I do it to help you.
We do not want Satan to win against us. He is very clever. We know how he likes to cause us to have trouble.
Trust in the Lord and do good things. Then you will live safely in the land.
Righteous people speak wise words. What they say brings justice.
They think about God's Law all the time, so that they do not make mistakes.
Evil people wait for a chance to kill righteous people.
But the Lord will not leave his righteous people, so that their enemies have power over them. When evil people accuse them, the Lord will show that they are not guilty.
Be patient and continue to trust the Lord. Obey his commands. Then he will give you honour, so that you live safely in the land. You will see that the Lord destroys wicked people.
I have seen cruel, wicked people become very powerful, like trees that grow well in good soil.
But soon after that, I see that they have disappeared! I looked for them, but I could not find them anywhere.
Think about people who are honest and who do what is right. Those who help people to live in peace will live to enjoy their children.
But God will destroy people that turn against him. Evil people will not have descendants.
The Lord will make righteous people safe. He will take care of them in times of trouble.
Be happy that the Lord is your friend. He will give you what you most want.
I will go away but I will give you a gift of peace. It is mine to give and yours to keep. It is not like a gift that this world gives. Do not let yourselves be sad. Do not be afraid.
Trust in the Lord completely. Do not think that you understand things well enough for yourself.
Whatever you are doing, remember that the Lord is with you. Then he will show you the right way to go.
Do everything that you can to live in peace with all people. Be faithful to the Lord. Nobody will see the Lord unless they are holy.
Remember that God is very kind. Nobody should refuse to let God help them. Make sure that nobody among you causes trouble so that people turn against God. A person who is angry against God is like poison. He spoils many other people's lives so that God does not accept them.
Love each other truly like brothers and sisters. Be happy to give honour to other Christians.
Christ has given you peace in your minds. So let that peace rule your thoughts. God has chosen you to be like one body, as his people. So he wants you to live together in peace. Thank God for everything that he gives to you.
So you must refuse to do any evil things. Do not tell lies to deceive people. Do not be hypocrites. Do not be jealous of other people. Do not say bad things against other people.
A faithful person helps himself with good things. But a cruel person brings trouble on himself.
But God has shown us how much he loves us. Even when we still did not obey God, Christ died on our behalf.
A patient man shows that he understands what is right. But someone who quickly becomes angry shows that he is foolish.
Do not think that you are better than other people. Always be kind and patient with each other. Love one another, so that you do not quickly become angry with each other.
But when you learned about Christ, you did not learn to do things like that!
I am sure that you have heard about him properly. People taught you the true message that comes from Jesus.
They taught you to change the way that you live. You must remove the nature that you had before. That old nature deceived you. As a result, you wanted to do things that would destroy you.
Instead, let God's Spirit make you think in a new way.
Take up the new nature that God has prepared for you. That nature is like God's own nature. Then you will live in a truly good way that pleases God.
So you must stop telling lies. Each of you must say only true things to one another. Remember that all of us belong to one another, like parts of the same body.
When you are angry, do not do anything bad as a result. Once the day comes to an end, do not continue to be angry.
Do not give the devil a chance to hurt you like that.
Any of you who robbed people before must now stop taking things. Instead, you should work hard with your own hands. Then you will be able to share what you have with people who are poor.
Do not say bad things that hurt or insult people. Instead, say only good things that will help people. Your words should help people to become strong when they hear them.
Do your best to let God's Spirit keep you united. You belong together so live in peace with each other.
At this time there are three things that continue. We have faith to trust God. We have hope to receive his good things. We have love for other people. But the most important of these things is love.
God is the one who causes us to hope for good things. I pray that God will bless you very much. I pray that he will cause you to be happy and to have peace in your minds. He will do this because you believe in him. As a result, God's Holy Spirit will make you strong with his power, so that you hope even more certainly.
Yes, the Lord is very kind and patient! He shows how great his faithful love is.
The Lord is good to everyone. He takes care of everything that he has made.
When a fool becomes angry, everybody knows it! But a careful person keeps quiet when someone insults him.
The Bible says this: ‘Do you want to enjoy your life? Do you want to be happy? Then you must be careful not to say evil things. Do not tell any lies.
Stop doing evil things. Instead, do things that are good. Try to be friends with people. Help people to live in peace with each other.
This is the rule that I give to you: You must love each other, in the same way that I have loved you.
Love other people in a true way, not like a hypocrite. Hate anything that is bad. Continue to do things that are good.
One rule brings together all the rules in God's Law. That one rule says, ‘Love other people as much as you love yourself.’
So do not live like wild animals. Wild animals fight and they eat each other. If you attack each other like that, be very careful! You may destroy one another completely.
Do not say bad things that hurt or insult people. Instead, say only good things that will help people. Your words should help people to become strong when they hear them.
God has chosen you to be his own special people. You belong to him and he loves you very much. So this is how you should live: Be kind to other people and help them. Do not think that you are better than other people. Instead, respect them and be patient with them.
Happy are the people who are kind and who forgive other people. God will forgive people like that.
If you are patient, you may make a ruler change his mind. If you speak a quiet word, you can remove a difficult problem.
People who love your Law have peace in their minds. Nothing will cause them to fall down.
Jesus then said, ‘Do not judge anyone, to say that they are a bad person. If you do that, God will judge you in the same way.
If he asks you for a fish, you would not give him a snake.
You may be bad, but even you know how to give good things to your children. Your Father in heaven knows much better than you do how to give good things to his children. He will give good things to everyone who asks him.
So do the good things for other people that you would want them to do for you. That is true in everything you do. That is what God's Law and the messages of God's prophets teach us.’
‘Go in through the narrow gate to get true life with God. There is a wide gate that is easy to go through. The wide path is easy to travel on. Many people find that wide gate, but it is the way that goes to God's final punishment.
It is difficult to go through the small gate. And it is difficult to walk on the narrow road. But when you do go that way, you will get true life. Not many people find that narrow gate.’
‘Some people say that they are prophets from God. But their words are false. They seem to be like sheep that are not dangerous. But they are really like hungry wild dogs. What they teach will hurt you.
You will know these people by the way that they live. The things that they do are like their fruit. Grapes do not grow on thorn bushes. Figs do not grow on weeds.
Good fruit grows on a tree that is good. Bad fruit grows on a tree that is not good.
A good tree cannot make bad fruit. A bad tree cannot make good fruit.
A farmer will cut down any tree that does not make good fruit. He will burn it on a fire.
God will think about you in the same way that you think about other people. He will use the same rules for you as you use for other people.
Yes, we must love one another. That is the message which you have heard from the beginning.
So I say this to each one of you: Do not judge other people. If you decide that someone else has done a bad thing, remember that you also do the same bad things. So when you judge someone else you are saying that you are also guilty of the same thing. You deserve the same punishment!
In the way that you live, do not just try to help yourself. Do not be proud. Instead, respect other people. Think about other people as more important than yourself.
He nearly died because he was working to serve Christ. He came to help me, because you could not help me yourselves. He was even ready to die so that he could do that on your behalf.
Do not think only about the things that you want to do for yourself. Each of you should think also about how you can help other people.
The man replied, ‘It says that we must love the Lord our God with all our mind and with all our strength. We must love him with all that we are and in all that we think. It also says that we must love other people as much as we love ourselves.’
A person really loves his friends if he dies so that they can live. Nobody could love anyone more than that.
If we really love God, we will not be afraid of him. We cannot love him completely and also be afraid. We would only be afraid of God if we thought that he would punish us. So, if someone is afraid that God will punish them, it shows that they do not completely know God's love.
God, please look deep inside me. See what is there in my thoughts.
Show me if I am following any evil way. Lead me in the right way that has always been true.
Do not think about the things that will help you. Instead, each of you should think about what will help other people.
Always pay your debts to other people. The only debt that you should have is to love each other. Anyone who loves other people has obeyed God's Law completely.
And you must also love each other. That is the most important thing that you should do. Love holds all these good things completely together.
So you must stop telling lies. Each of you must say only true things to one another. Remember that all of us belong to one another, like parts of the same body.
If so, do not speak any evil words. Do not tell lies to deceive people.
Do good things instead of evil things. Try to bring peace into people's lives.
People insulted Christ, but he did not say any bad thing to answer them. People caused him to have trouble, but he never tried to hurt them in return. Instead, Christ trusted God to help him. He knew that God always judges people fairly.
My Christian friends, God has been very kind to us. Because of that, I really want you to serve God with your whole life. Offer your bodies to him like a sacrifice that continues to live. Serve him with everything that you have, and that will please him. That is the true way to worship God.
Love each other truly like brothers and sisters. Be happy to give honour to other Christians.
Do not be lazy, but always work hard. Serve the Lord well.
Be happy, because you can trust God to do what he says. Be patient when you suffer. Always continue to pray.
When God's people need anything, share what you have with them. Always be happy to welcome people into your home.
Ask God to bless people who cause trouble for you. Yes, do not curse them, but bless them!
If you are with someone who is happy, you should be happy too. If you are with someone who is sad, you should be sad too.
Always try to be friends with other people. Do not be proud. Agree to help people who are not important. Do not think that you know everything.
If someone has done bad things against you, do not do bad things back to them. Try to live in a good way, so that people will respect you.
If it is possible, always try to live in peace with other people.
My friends, if someone has done bad things to you, do not try to punish them yourselves. Instead, let God be angry with them and punish them. This is what is written in the Bible: ‘The Lord God says, “When people do something wrong, I am the one who will punish them. I will pay them back.” ’
Do not become like the people who belong to this world. But let God completely change the way that you think, so that you live differently. Then you will understand what God wants you to do. You will know what is good. You will know what pleases God. You will know what is completely right.
Because of that, you should help each other to become stronger as believers. I know that you are already doing that.
But maybe you need to know how to be wise. Then ask God to help you. He is ready to give everyone what they need. And he never says that it is wrong to ask. So God will help you to be wise.
A wise person does not talk too much. Anyone who keeps quiet shows that he understands things.
Even a fool seems to be wise if he keeps quiet. If he keeps his mouth shut, people will think that he is clever.
Now I say ‘goodbye’ to you, my Christian friends. Do only what is right. Let my message make you strong. Agree with each other. Live together in peace. I pray that God will be with you. He is the one who loves us and gives us peace in our minds.
My friends, do not believe everyone who says that they speak God's message. There are many false prophets who are travelling around everywhere. They say that they have a message from God's Spirit, but the message comes from a false spirit. So check each message carefully to see if it is really from God.
So you must be very careful how you live. Live like people who are wise. Do not live like fools.
Many bad things are happening in these days. So, whenever you have a chance to do something good, do as much as you can.
Let the Lord be your guide into the future. Trust in him and he will help you.
He will show everyone that you are righteous, as clear as the light at dawn. People will know that you are a good person, as clearly as the sun shines at noon.
We have forgiven people who have done wrong things to us. In the same way, please forgive us for the wrong things that we have done.
The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law continued to ask Jesus questions. So he stood up and he said to them, ‘Any person among you who is not guilty of any sin may throw the first stone to kill her.’
When the wind blows from the north, it brings rain. In the same way, when somebody tells secrets, it brings anger.
Do not worry about anything. Instead, pray to God about everything. Ask him to help you with the things that you need. And thank him for his help.
If you do that, God will give you peace in your minds. That peace is so great that nobody can completely understand it. You will not worry or be afraid, because you belong to Christ Jesus.
But God's Spirit causes us to live in a different way. We love other people. We are happy and we have peace in our minds. We are patient, kind and good. People can trust us to do what is right.
He has done that to bring all the parts together as one body. All the parts work together to help each other.
Then if one part of the body hurts, every other part also hurts. If people praise one part, every part of the body is also happy.
We should think about how we can help one another. We want everyone to show love to each other. We want everyone to do good things to help one another.
Some people have stopped meeting with the group of Christians. But that is not good. We should all continue to meet together. We need to help one another to be strong and brave. That is now even more important, because the Lord's great day is coming. You know that the Lord will return soon.
We are not fighting against human enemies. Instead, we are fighting against the rulers and the powerful spirits that have authority over this dark world. We are fighting against the evil spirits who live in the heavens.
Jesus said, ‘If another believer has done something wrong against you, you must go and speak to him. When you are alone with him, tell him what he has done that is wrong. He may agree with what you say. If he does, then you can call him your friend again.
It is good for a family of God's people to live together in peace. Yes! It brings great pleasure!
Be happy, because you can trust God to do what he says. Be patient when you suffer. Always continue to pray.
Continue to love each other very much. That is more important than anything else. If you love people, you will forgive them for any wrong things that they have done.
Always be happy to have other believers as visitors in your homes.
If you insult a relative, it will be difficult to become friends with him again. Arguments keep people apart, like the walls of a strong city.
Yes, my friends, you should always trust in God! Tell him about all the troubles in your thoughts. God is our safe place to hide!
Lord, you keep those people safe who continue to trust in you. You give them peace in their minds, because they believe in you.
This is how we know what true love is: Jesus Christ gave his own life on the cross. He died on our behalf. So we too ought to give our lives for other believers.
Some of us trust God with strong faith. We must help those believers whose faith is weaker. We must be patient with them. We should not only do things that will please ourselves.
Whenever we have trouble, he comforts us. Because of that, we ourselves can comfort other people. When they have any kind of trouble, we can comfort them, in the same way that God has comforted us.
Instead, help each other and be kind to each other. Forgive one another. Remember that God has forgiven you because of what Christ has done.
Take your problems to the Lord. He will take care of you. He will never let his own people fall.
In the way that you live, do not want lots of money. Be happy with the things that you have. Be happy, because God has said this: ‘I will never leave you; I will always be there with you.’
Because of that, we can bravely say this: ‘The Lord is the one who helps me, so I will not be afraid. I will not be afraid of anything that people can do to me.’
So you should tell each other about any wrong things that you have done. Then you will be able to pray for each other, so that God makes you well again. When a good person prays to God, God does powerful things.
Jesus replied to him, ‘You should love the Lord your God completely: Love him with all your mind. Love him with all that you are. Love him in all that you think.
This is the greatest command and the most important of all God's laws.
The second command is also important, like the first one. You should love other people as much as you love yourself.
Friends, you must warn lazy people. Tell them that they should work. If people are afraid, help them to be brave. If people are weak, take care of them. Be patient with everyone.
Someone who wants to cause trouble has a mind that is full of lies. But someone who wants to bring peace has a mind that is full of joy.
It is God himself who helps us to be patient and strong. So I pray that he will help you to agree with each other and to be friends. That is how Christ Jesus wants you to live.
As a result, all of you will praise God together with the same thoughts. You will all agree that God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is very great.
Instead, always think about the things that are important in the kingdom of heaven. Always do what God shows you is right. Then he will also give you the things that you need each day.
God loved the people in the world so much that he gave his one and only Son to save them. As a result, everyone who believes in the Son will not die. Instead, they will live for ever with God.
If I love people, I will always accept their problems. I will always believe them. I will always hope for what is best. I will always be patient in any kind of trouble.
It is Christ himself who has brought peace between Jews and Gentiles. He has brought those two groups together, to be one group. He has destroyed the things that made them separate. As a result, they are no longer enemies.
Stop doing evil things. Instead, do things that are good. Try to be friends with people. Help people to live in peace with each other.
Then he said to all the people, ‘Be very careful! Do not want more things than you really need. A person's life is worth more than the things that he has, even if he is very rich.’
Whatever you are doing, do not complain. And do not argue.
Then you will not be guilty of anything that is wrong. You will be clean inside yourselves. You will be living in a completely good way, as God's children should. In this world, you are living among bad people who have turned away from what is good. But you must bring light into this dark place, like stars that shine in the night.
Two or more people may meet together because they believe in me. If they do that, I will be there with them.’
I may walk through a valley that is as dark as death, but I will not be afraid of any danger. This is because you are with me, Lord. Your stick and your shepherd's pole protect me from danger.
Kind words are like the fruit of a tree that gives life. But words that are not honest make people sad and weak.
When you speak to people, always speak kind words. Say things that will help them. Then, when someone asks you a question, you will know how to reply.
But you, Timothy, are a servant of God. So keep away from all bad things like that. Instead, always try to do what is right. Serve God in a way that pleases him. Choose to trust God and to love other people. Continue to be strong when you have trouble. Be kind to people.
Instead, we should agree that we have done wrong things and tell that to God. Then God will forgive us for our sins. He always does what he has promised to do. He always does what is right. He will forgive us and he will make us clean again, whatever bad things we may have done.
You must stay awake and pray. God can help you, so that you will not do something wrong. You really want to do the right thing, but your bodies are weak.’
People who let their human thoughts rule them will die. But people who think about what God's Spirit wants will have life with God. They will have peace inside themselves.
Because of this, we must help everyone when we have the chance. Certainly we must do good things to help our friends who believe in Christ, as we do.
A person who boasts only causes trouble. But if you accept good advice, it shows that you are wise.
I have told you these things so that you will have peace. You will be like that because you live together with me. In this world, you will have trouble. But be brave! I have destroyed the power of this world.’
You must be sure that your light shines well. Then you will give light to other people. They will see all the good things that you do. Then they will praise God, who is your Father in heaven.’