Ephesians 5:1

Plain English Version

You are God’s kids, and he loves you, so try to be like God. He is good all the time.

Cross References

Matthew 5:45

If you do that, you will be just like your father in heaven. He gets the sun to shine on everybody, bad people as well as good people. And he gets the rain to fall on everybody, good people and bad people too.

Matthew 5:48

So this is what I say. You have to be properly good, just like your father in heaven is properly good.”

John 1:12

But some people did want him. They believed in him, so God said they can join his family, and be his own kids.

Ephesians 4:32

Instead, be good to each other, and try to understand how other people feel. If somebody does wrong to you, don’t do payback to them, but let it go. Be good to each other, just like God is good to you. He doesn’t do payback to you. You belong to Jesus Christ now, so God doesn’t punish you for those bad things you did.

Philippians 2:15

Then you will be properly good, so that nobody can blame you for anything. You are God’s kids living among really bad people that always go wrong. So you have to live in a way that is properly good. Then everyone will see that you are properly good. You will be like bright stars in a dark sky.

Colossians 3:12

You see, God loves you. He picked you to be his own special people. So you have to live a new way for him. You have to be good to other people. You have to feel sorry for people that have trouble and try to help them. Don’t think that you are more important than other people. You have to be easy on other people, and don’t get angry with them, even if they give you trouble.