Philippians 4:17

Plain English Version

I’m not telling you this to get you to send me more things. But I want you to keep on doing good things like that, so that God will be happy about you. He will add those good things to the list of all the good things you have done, and one day, he will pay you for it all.

Cross References

John 15:16

You didn’t pick me, but I picked you. And I am sending you out to do my work. I want you to be like branches that grow the sort of fruit that stays good for ever. Then you can ask God for anything that I say is good, and he will give it to you.

John 15:8

And when you live God’s way, other people will see the good things that you do, and they will know that you are my followers, so they will respect my father. You will be like a branch that grows a lot of fruit.

Philippians 4:11

I’m not saying this because I need anything. I have learned to be happy, no matter what happens to me.

1 Thessalonians 2:5

And when we talked to you, we didn’t say nice things about you, so that you will like us. We didn’t make a secret plan to get you to give us things. God knows that.

1 Timothy 3:3

He can’t be a drunken man, or a man that gets into fights. – He has to be a quiet man that is not hard on people. – He can’t be a man that loves money. –

1 Timothy 6:10

If you love money a lot, you will do all sorts of bad things to get it. Some people went wrong like that. They wanted a lot of money, so they stopped believing in Jesus, and they got themselves into lots of trouble, and now they are really sad.

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.

Titus 3:14

And teach our people to do good things like that all the time. They have to help anybody that really needs things. When they do that, they will be doing something good with their lives.

1 Peter 5:2

You church leaders have to look after God’s people. God gave you the job to look after them, so you have to do it properly, like a man with sheep looks after them properly. God wants you leaders to be happy while you do that job. Don’t just do it because you think you have to, or because you want money. Do it because you want to help God’s people.

2 Peter 2:15

They left the right way and went the wrong way. They stopped doing good things, and now they do bad things. Remember the story about Balaam, the son of Beyor. He loved money so much that he did bad things to get it. Then God made a donkey talk to him with a man’s voice. It told him he was going wrong, and it stopped him from being even more stupid. Those people are just like Balaam. They are stupid, and they go the wrong way, just like Balaam did.

2 Peter 2:3

Those lying teachers only want your money. So they will tell you tricky lies to get you to give them money. A long time ago, God said that he will punish them, and he is ready to do that. One day, he will properly finish up those liars.

Jude 1:11

Very bad things will happen to that mob of lying teachers. Do you know the stories about Cain, Balaam, and Korah? Cain killed his brother Abel. Balaam really wanted money and did bad things to get it. And Korah turned against God. God punished those men, Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Now that liar mob are doing the same wrong things, and God will punish them too.