I truly expect and hope that I won’t be ashamed in any way, but that I’ll be brave enough so that now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether I live or die.
May God himself, the God of peace, make you holy and complete. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes.
But even if my life is going to be poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I’ll be glad and joyful with all of you.
So he’s pulled in two directions. An unmarried or single woman is concerned about the things of the Lord. She wants to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of this world. She wants to know how she can please her husband.
Because God has shown you such mercy, brothers and sisters, I ask you to offer up your bodies to God while you are still alive. That will be a sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. It’s the right kind of worship to offer God.
I had bragged about you to him, and you haven’t let me down. Everything we said to you was true, and in the same way, everything we told Titus about you has also turned out to be true.
As it is written, “Look! I’m laying a stone in Zion that will cause people to trip. It’s a rock that will make them fall. The one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
I’m using an example from everyday human life to help you understand. You used to offer yourselves as slaves to dirty habits, and you did more and more things that were wrong. Now offer yourselves as slaves to the right way of living. Then you will become holy.
Don’t offer any part of yourself to serve sin and do what’s wrong. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have been brought from death to life. Offer every part of yourself to God to do what’s right.
But I’m not going to try to save my own life. My only goal is to finish the race and complete the work that the Lord Jesus has given me, to tell others the good news about God’s grace.