Category
VERSES ABOUT VICES AND ADDICTIONS
Addiction and bad habits can be so destructive. Think about it, addiction is clinging to something—a behavior, a substance, an activity, even a person—that's actually harming you. So many of us struggle with these things, feeling trapped by a vice or an addiction. Sometimes, we feel like it's because of our past.
But here's the truth: in God, we're free. Christ set us free from all of that and forgave our sins. If you keep dwelling on the past, those chains can really hold you back. Sometimes, these struggles can even stem from negative spiritual influences, finding a foothold and coming to light when we unknowingly open a door, giving the enemy a legal right to step in.
You have the power to let go of what's binding you. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any areas of bondage you need to address. Receive God's forgiveness and His healing. He's there for you.
I pray that we all find freedom from anything that's hurting us and holding us back. Just like it says in John 8:36, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
Husbands, love your wives the same as Christ loved the church. Christ died for the church.
He died to make the church holy. {\cf2\super [40]} Christ used the telling of the Good News {\cf2\super [41]} to make the church clean by washing it with water.
“When a man is newly married, he must not be sent into the army. And he must not be given any other special work. For one year he must be free to stay home and make his new wife happy.
An enemy might be able to defeat one person, but that enemy can’t defeat two people. \{And three people are even stronger. They are like\} a rope that has three parts wrapped together—it is very hard to break.
So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.
Do all these things; but most important, love each other. Love is the thing that holds you all together in perfect unity.
Marriage should be honored by all people. And every marriage should be kept pure between only two people. God will judge guilty those people who do sexual sins and adultery. {\cf2\super [172]}
Wives, be willing to serve your husbands. This is the right thing to do in following the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives, and be gentle to them.
If you find a wife, then you have found a good thing. She shows that the Lord is happy with you.
The husband should give his wife all that she should have as his wife. And the wife should give her husband all that he should have as her husband.
The wife does not have power over her own body. Her husband has the power over her body. And the husband does not have power over his own body. His wife has the power over his body.
\{The Scriptures {\cf2\super [42]} say,\} “So a man will leave his father and mother and join his wife. And the two people will become one.” {\cf2\super [43]}
God has chosen you and made you his holy people. {\cf2\super [18]} He loves you. So always do these things: Show mercy to people; be kind, humble, gentle, and patient.
Don’t be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If another person does something wrong against you, then forgive that person. Forgive other people because the Lord forgave you.
Do all these things; but most important, love each other. Love is the thing that holds you all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking. You were all called together in one body {\cf2\super [19]} to have peace. Always be thankful.
Let the teaching of Christ live inside you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Everything you say and everything you do should all be done for Jesus your Lord (Master). And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife. This way, two people become one.
But there must be no sexual sin among you. There must not be any kind of evil or selfishly wanting more and more. Why? Because those things are not right for God’s holy people. {\cf2\super [38]}
Also, there must be no evil talk among you. You must not speak foolishly or tell evil jokes. These things are not right for you. But you should be giving thanks to God.
You can be sure of this: No person will have a place in the kingdom of Christ and of God if that person does sexual sins, or does evil things, or is a person who always wants more and more for himself. A greedy person like that is serving a false god.
No person should try to do the things that will help \{only\} himself. He should try to do what is good for other people.
No! We will speak the truth with love. We will grow to be like Christ in every way. Christ is the head \{and we are the body\}.
Wives, be willing to serve your husbands, the same as the Lord.
The husband is the head of the wife, the same as Christ is the head of the church. The church is Christ’s body—Christ is the Savior of the body.
The church is under the authority of Christ. So it is the same with you wives. You should be under the authority of your husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives the same as Christ loved the church. Christ died for the church.
He died to make the church holy. {\cf2\super [40]} Christ used the telling of the Good News {\cf2\super [41]} to make the church clean by washing it with water.
Christ died so that he could give the church to himself \{like a bride\} full of glory (beauty). He died so that the church could be pure and without fault, with no evil or sin or any other thing wrong in the church.
And husbands should love their wives like that. They should love their wives like they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself.
When you talk, don’t say any bad things. But say things that people need—things that will help other people become stronger. Then the things you say will help the people who listen to you.
And don’t make the Holy Spirit {\cf2\super [36]} sad. The Spirit is God’s proof that you belong to God. God gave you that Spirit to show that God will make you free at the right time.
\{The Scriptures {\cf2\super [42]} say,\} “So a man will leave his father and mother and join his wife. And the two people will become one.” {\cf2\super [43]}
That secret truth is very important—I am talking about Christ and the church.
But each one of you must love his wife like he loves himself. And a wife must respect her husband.
Husbands, love your wives the same as Christ loved the church. Christ died for the church.
The husband is the head of the wife, the same as Christ is the head of the church. The church is Christ’s body—Christ is the Savior of the body.
Love never ends. There are \{gifts of\} prophecy, {\cf2\super [94]} but they will be ended. There are \{gifts of speaking in different kinds of\} languages, but those gifts will end. There is \{the gift of\} knowledge, but it will be ended.
But sexual sin is a danger. So each man should have his own wife. And each woman should have her own husband.
The person that always tries to show love and kindness will have a good life, wealth, and honor.
Never stop loving. Always be loyal and true. \{Make these things a part of yourself\}—tie them around your neck and write them on your heart.
Then you will be wise and pleasing to God and people!
In the same way you wives should be willing to serve your husbands. Then, if some of your husbands have not obeyed \{God’s\} teaching, they will be persuaded to believe. You will not need to say anything. They will be persuaded by the way their wives live.
Your husbands will see the pure lives that you live with your respect \{for God\}.
It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make you beautiful.
No, your beauty should come from inside you—the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. That beauty will never disappear. It is worth very much to God.
It was the same with the holy {\cf2\super [22]} women who lived long ago and followed God. They made themselves beautiful in that same way. They were willing to serve their husbands.
\{I am talking about women\} like Sarah. She obeyed Abraham, {\cf2\super [23]} her husband, and called him her master. And you women are true children of Sarah if you always do what is right and are not afraid.
In the same way, you husbands should live with your wives in an understanding way. You should show respect to your wives. They are weaker than you. But God gives your wives the same blessing that he gives you—the grace (kindness) that gives true life. Do these things so that nothing will trouble your prayers.
{\cf2\super [41]} It is very hard to find “the perfect woman.” {\cf2\super [42]} \par But she is worth much more than jewels.\par
True love is God’s love for us, not our love for God. God sent his Son to be the way that God takes away our sins.
You received Christ Jesus the Lord. So continue to live following him without changing anything.
You must depend on Christ only. Life and strength come from him. You were taught the truth. You must continue to be sure of that true teaching. And always be thankful.
Be sure that no person leads you away with false ideas and words that mean nothing. Those ideas come from people, not Christ. Those ideas are the worthless ideas of people in the world.
All of God lives in Christ fully (even in Christ’s life on earth).
And in Christ you are full. You need nothing else. Christ is ruler over all rulers and powers.
Then the Lord God said, “I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a person like him to help him.”
Enjoy life with the wife you love. Enjoy every day of your short life. God has given you this short life on earth—and it is all you have. So, enjoy the work you have to do in this life.
Those people want to be teachers of the law. {\cf2\super [2]} But they don’t know what they are talking about. They don’t even understand the things that they say they are sure about.
I may speak in different languages of men or even angels. But if I don’t have love, then I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal.
Love is patient, and love is kind. Love is not jealous, it does not boast, and it is not proud.
Love is not rude, love is not selfish, and love does not become angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it.
Love is not happy with evil, but love is happy with the truth.
Love patiently accepts all things. Love always trusts, always hopes, and always continues strong.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Don’t do the sin of adultery.’ {\cf2\super [65]}
But I tell you that if a person looks at a woman and wants to sin sexually with her, then that person has already done that sin with the woman in his mind.
So God made people in his own image. God made people as a copy of himself. [7] God made them male and female.
God blessed them and said to them, “Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
{\cf2\super [41]} It is very hard to find “the perfect woman.” {\cf2\super [42]} \par But she is worth much more than jewels.\par
Her husband depends on her.\par He will never be poor.\par
She does good for her husband all her life.\par She never causes him trouble.\par
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient and accept each other with love.
You are joined together with peace through the Spirit. {\cf2\super [28]} Do all you can to continue together in this way. Let peace hold you together.
But sexual sin is a danger. So each man should have his own wife. And each woman should have her own husband.
The husband should give his wife all that she should have as his wife. And the wife should give her husband all that he should have as her husband.
The wife does not have power over her own body. Her husband has the power over her body. And the husband does not have power over his own body. His wife has the power over his body.
Don’t refuse to give your bodies to each other. But you might both agree to stay away \{from sex\} for a time. You might do this so that you can give your time to prayer. Then come together again. This is so that Satan (the Devil) cannot tempt you in your weakness.
If you have these things, then I ask you to do something for me. This will make me very happy. I ask that all your minds be joined together by believing the same things. Be joined together in your love for each other. Live together by agreeing with each other and having the same goals.
When you do things, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble and give more honor to other people than to yourselves.
Don’t be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of other people, too.
Love each other in a way that you feel close to each other like brothers and sisters. You should want to give your brothers and sisters more honor than you want for yourself.
My brothers and sisters, God called you to be free. But don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do the things that please your sinful selves. But serve each other with love.
It is better to eat a little in a place where there is love, than to eat a lot where there is hate.
So I want the younger widows to marry, have children, and take care of their homes. If they do this, then our enemy will not have any reason to criticize them.
If it is not the Lord that builds a house,\par the builder is wasting his time.\par If it is not the Lord that watches over a city,\par the guards are wasting their time.\par
The husband should give his wife all that she should have as his wife. And the wife should give her husband all that he should have as her husband.
The wife does not have power over her own body. Her husband has the power over her body. And the husband does not have power over his own body. His wife has the power over his body.
Don’t refuse to give your bodies to each other. But you might both agree to stay away \{from sex\} for a time. You might do this so that you can give your time to prayer. Then come together again. This is so that Satan (the Devil) cannot tempt you in your weakness.
Jesus answered, “Surely you have read this \{in the Scriptures {\cf2\super [258]} \}: When God made the world, ‘he made people male and female.’ {\cf2\super [259]}
And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. And the two people will become one.’ {\cf2\super [260]}
So the two people are not two, but one. God joined those two people together. So no person should separate them.”
Now I give this command for the married people. (The command is not from me; it is from the Lord.) A wife must not leave her husband.
But if a wife leaves her husband she must not marry again. Or she should go back together with her husband. Also the husband must not divorce his wife.
“It was also said, ‘Any person that divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.’ {\cf2\super [66]}
But I tell you that any person that divorces his wife is causing his wife to be guilty of the sin of adultery. {\cf2\super [67]} The only reason for a person to divorce his wife is if his wife had sexual relations with another man. And any person that marries that divorced woman is guilty of the sin of adultery.
A person should take care of all his own people. Most important, he should take care of his own family. If a person does not do that, then he does not accept the \{true\} faith (teaching). That person is worse than a person who does not believe.
God’s true love will meet his followers.\par Goodness and peace will greet them\par with a kiss.\par
But the Spirit {\cf2\super [74]} gives love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. There is no law that can say these things are wrong.
Many people call a person”friend.” But it is really hard to find a person that can really be trusted.
People get houses and money from their parents. But a good wife is a gift from the Lord.
I hope my words and thoughts please you.\par Lord, you are my Rock {\cf2\super [111]} —\par You are the One who saves me.\par