1 Peter 4:10

Plain English Version

God has given each one of you different ways to do good for each other. He has given you the power to do them, so you have to do them properly.

Cross References

Matthew 24:45

Then Jesus said to the people, “Think about a good work-man. He will always do what his boss says. He thinks about it and does it properly. So, if the boss has to go away for a while, he will pick that good work-man to be in charge of all his other workers, to look after them and give them food every day.

Matthew 25:44

Then they will say, ‘But, sir, when did we ever see you with those problems and not help you? We never saw you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without enough clothes, or sick, or in prison.’

Mark 10:45

You see, all the leaders of my people have to be like that. They have to be just like me. I’m God’s special man from heaven, but I didn’t come here to be bossy and get people to work for me. I came here to work for other people. And I came here to die for a lot of people. I will let God punish me instead of them. He will punish me for the bad things that they did.”

Luke 19:13

But before that man went away, he got 10 of his work-men to come and talk to him. He gave each work-man $1,000 to look after for him. He told them it was not their own money, but they had to use that money to get more money for him. Then that man went away to meet with that biggest boss.

1 Corinthians 15:10

But God was very good to me. He changed me and made me the way I am now. And so more people heard the good news about Jesus. You see, I’ve worked harder than any of his other special workers. But it wasn’t really me that did that work. No. It was God that gave me the power to do his work, so he is the one that did it.

1 Corinthians 3:10

This is the picture story. One builder starts to build a house. First, he puts cement down on the ground for the building to stand on. That cement is called the foundation. Then other builders build the house on that cement foundation. This story is a picture of you getting into God’s family. God was good to me and gave me the power to work for him. I told you about Jesus, and it is like I put down a good foundation for you at that time. And now other Christian workers are teaching you more about Jesus. They are like the builders that build on that foundation. They have to do it properly. Jesus is the only strong foundation. Nobody can put down any other foundation for God’s family.

1 Corinthians 4:7

You yourselves are no better than other people. God gave you everything that you have. So you can’t reckon that you are really smart, and that you got it for yourselves.

Ephesians 3:8

I’m not important. All of God’s people are more important than me. But God was good to me, and he gave me this special job. He sent me to tell the people that are not Jews about the really great things that Jesus Christ can give them. These things are so great that nobody can understand them properly.

Ephesians 4:11

And Jesus Christ gives these special gifts to his people, so that they can help other people in the church. These gifts are the powers he gives to Christians. He gave some of his people the power to be his special workers, and he sent them out to other people to tell them his good news. And he gave other Christians the power to tell God’s messages to people. And he gave some of them the power to help other people to believe in Jesus. And he gave some Christians the power to be pastors, to look after Christians and teach them God’s way. God gave all these powers to his people to get them ready, so that they can work together for him. God works like that, so that his people get stronger, and so that more people join his family. We are like the body of Jesus Christ here on earth, and he wants that body to get bigger and stronger.

Titus 1:7

Church leaders are in charge of God’s work on earth, so they have to be really good people, and then nobody will say anything bad about them. Whenever you pick people to be church leaders, – Don’t pick people that think they are better than everyone else. – Don’t pick people that get angry too easily. – Don’t pick people that drink a lot of grog. – Don’t pick people that get into fights. – Don’t pick greedy people, that want lots of money and things.

1 Peter 5:10

But trouble doesn’t last for ever. After you have trouble for a short time, God will be good to you. He will make everything right for you and make you properly strong for him. He picked you to join you up with Jesus Christ. He did that so that, in the end, you will be very great with Jesus for ever.

1 Peter 5:12

This is just a short letter to you. Silas helped me write it. He is our good Christian friend, and he follows Jesus properly. I want you to be happy and strong, so I’m writing this letter to you. And I want you to remember that God is very good, so keep on thinking about how good he is. Then you will keep on trusting him.