Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
For this reason we labour and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe.
We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labour motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.