1 Thessalonians 5:12

Plain English Version

Now, Christian friends, here are a few more things we really want you to do. – Respect the people among you that work hard for God. They lead you, his people, and teach you how to live the right way.

Cross References

John 4:38

And just like that, some of God’s other workers have shared God’s story with people, and now I’m sending you to help those people join God’s family. Somebody else told them about God, and now you will see them join God’s family.”

Acts 20:28

Now you leaders have to make sure you keep on following Jesus properly, and you have to help God’s people to follow him properly too. The Holy Spirit picked you to be their leaders, so look after them properly. Remember, God bought his people with the blood of his own son.

Acts 20:35

I did everything in a way that showed you that we all have to work hard to get enough money, not just for ourselves, but to give some to people that don’t have the things they need. We have to remember that our leader, Jesus, said, ‘If people give things to you, that can make you a bit happy. But if you give things to other people, you will be properly happy.’ ”

1 Corinthians 12:28

And God gives people different jobs in his church, and he gives them the power to do those jobs. – 1st, there are Jesus’s special workers, that God sends to other places to tell people his good news. – 2nd, there are those other people that God uses to tell his messages. – 3rd, there are those people that can teach other people. – After that, there are those people that have the power to do great things. – Then there are those people that have the power to make sick people better. – And there are those people that can help other people. – And there are those people that can lead other people. – And there are those people that can talk in special languages.

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 16:16

I want you to agree with them and do what they want. And do the same for anyone that works hard for God, like they do.

1 Corinthians 16:18

They made my spirit happy, just like they made your spirits happy. Let them know, and let anyone like them know, that you are happy with them for the good things they do.

1 Corinthians 3:9

We are like 2 men that work for God in his garden, and you are like God’s garden. And I’ll use another picture story. This picture story shows that you are like God’s house that he is building for himself.

Galatians 4:11

I’m worried about you. I worked really hard to help you, and now I think, “Maybe I wasted my time.”

Philippians 2:16

And you have to keep on believing the message about Jesus that gives us real life. Then when Jesus Christ comes back, I will be very happy, and I will know that I didn’t waste my time when I worked among you.

Philippians 2:19

Now I will tell you what I want to do. Timothy is here with me, and I want to send him to you soon. So if that is what our leader Jesus wants, I will send him to you. After that, he will come back and tell me all about you, and that will make me happy.

Colossians 1:29

So I work really hard to do that. It is hard work, but Jesus Christ gives me his power, and he makes me strong.

1 Thessalonians 2:9

Christian friends, remember what we did when we were there with you. We worked to get money, and while we did that, we told you the good news from God. We worked a lot to get enough money to look after ourselves. We didn’t only work in the day time, but we worked at night time too. So you didn’t have to give us anything.

1 Thessalonians 4:1

There is one more thing we want to tell you, our Christian friends. You know, we taught you about the right way to live, to make God happy. And you have been living that way. That’s good. But we want you to live like that even more.

1 Thessalonians 5:14

And the next thing, friends, tell lazy people that they have to work. – And if somebody is frightened, talk to them in a way that helps them to be brave. – And help anybody that is weak. – And don’t get angry with anyone, keep on trying to help them. –

1 Timothy 5:1

If ever people in the church there go wrong, and if you have to straighten them out, be careful to respect them while you do it. If you talk to an old man, don’t talk to him in an angry way, but talk easy to him, like he is your father. If it is a young man, talk to him like he is your brother.

1 Timothy 5:20

If that leader really did do something bad, then you have to shame him. You have to talk to him to try to straighten him out, and do it in front of everybody in the church. Then everyone will take notice and be too frightened to do bad things themselves.

2 Timothy 2:6

And I will use another picture story, about a gardener. He works hard, and then he is the first person to eat the food he grows in the garden. Well, like that gardener, if you work hard for God, he will quickly pay you.

Titus 1:3

At first, people didn’t know what God promised, but now he says that it is the right time for them to hear his message, and he helps them understand it. God gave me that message, and he told me to tell it to other people. God is the one that saves us.

Titus 1:5

Titus, remember when I was with the Christians on that island called Crete, some things there were not right. So I asked you to stay there and try to fix those things. I also told you to pick good leaders to look after the Christians in all the towns on Crete.

Titus 2:15

So you have to teach these things to all the Christians there, and teach them in a strong way. Tell the Christians to keep going strong for Jesus. And if they do anything wrong, tell them to stop it. Make sure they take notice of you.