All of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, […]
Read MoreCategory Archives: Christian Living
By His Wounds, You Are Healed
He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, The Guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24–25) […]
Read MoreWorking for the Glory of God
For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:21) You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and […]
Read MoreCommon Responses to Mistreatment
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. (Romans 12:9) It’s been my observation that when we’re treated unfairly, we respond with three common, knee-jerk reactions. First, there is the aggressive pattern: we blame others. This reaction not only focuses on the person who […]
Read MoreGod’s Own Possession
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9) Possessions of the powerful, wealthy, or […]
Read MoreGod’s Plans for Us
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. (Colossians 1:13–14) Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his […]
Read MorePulling Together
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. (Philippians 2:3–4) With the teachings of Christ and Paul as a backdrop, we are better able to understand and appreciate Peter’s comments about […]
Read MoreThe Mark of the Christian
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. (John 13:34–35) Before Andrew Jackson became the seventh president of the United States, he served as a […]
Read MoreThe World and Its Ways
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from […]
Read MoreLights in a Dark World
Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. (Philippians 2:15) Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God would save us and then, within a matter of seconds, take us on to glory? Wouldn’t that be a great relief? We would never have any […]
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