What Time Is It?

Right now it's 1:31pm but by the time I post this.... the clock just changed to 1:32.

Do you ever wonder, "what's the purpose of time?" Today my car broke down and I was stranded, for a brief moment. Yesterday I locked myself out of the house and I was stranded, for a little longer than a moment. Has that ever happened to you? You're going about your normal routine then suddenly everything changes because of some unplanned event. Such waste of time! Or is it?

What is time anyways?
 TIME 

• the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.
• the progress of time as affecting people and things.
• a point of time as measured in hours and minutes past midnight or noon.
• the favorable or appropriate time to do something; the right moment.
• the appropriate or expected time for something, in particular childbirth or death.
• a prison sentence.
• the tempo at which a piece of music is played or marked to be played.

These are just a few of the definitions of time I read in a quick google search. I encourage you to google it yourselves or click the link above and read through the other definitions. It's quite fascinating to consider.

Ecclesiastes 3 must have been Solomons "time" of pondering time.  It starts with the words, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." You can read the rest of Ecclesiastes on your own. 

All of life has a beginning and an ending. All of life is encapsulated within the boundaries of time. Why? What is the purpose of time?

I was listening to Christmas music in the car last night on the way to church and my fiance says sarcastically, "Are you listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving?" Indeed I was. I love Christmas music! I love this time of year! The song playing on my CD, appropriately enough, was "Christmas Time" by Phil Wickham. The lyrics are awesome! In the background you hear the words, "God is with us, God is with us, Emmanuel, Emmanuel," and then you hear "It's Christmas time."

Christmas time and birthdays and other momentous occasions of life are great, but the days of heartache and pain, sufferings and sorrows are not so great. However, God has ordained the good and the bad. He designed our hearts with eternity in mind. He created us with a longing to know Him. Do you feel like you're missing something? It's God! Do you feel like there's gotta be something more? It's God! Do you long to belong to someone who loves you unconditionally? It's God you're searching for!

God came down to earth from His throne above to save our lives. It's miraculous and awesome and incredible! And now in the time after His birth and death and resurrection, He is still with us. In every season He is with us; in life and in death, in joy and in sufferings. He was, He is, and He will always be with us! When we're hurting, He comforts us. When we're joyful, He sings over us. When we're lost, He finds us. When we're broken, He heals us. When we are afraid, He is with us, He will uphold us with His righteous right hand!

When God is the focus of our lives what do we have to fear? What can time do to us when we know God? With God, time will accomplish awesome and wonderful things!
James 1 says, ....My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Hebrews 13:5-6 says, "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say:  “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?”

In a sermon entitled "Why Does God Allow This," Ray Stedman says, "....God has a perfect plan that includes what we need, the painful as well as the pleasant. If we accept those as God's choices for us, coming from his loving heart -- not out of anger, not out of desire to punish, but out of love -- we will discover three wonderful things. First, we will be enabled to enjoy all of life, even the painful circumstances. Secondly, we will learn to know God. Jesus said, "This is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." We will satisfy the sense of eternity which God has put in each heart. That will happen when our attitude toward life changes because of our relationship with God. Thirdly, this lesson will be repeated for us until we learn it, until we get it down right!

I think that is a beautiful explanation to the question, what is the purpose of time.

If you are breathing you still have time to come to Him and learn from Him. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says:
“In an acceptable time I have heard you,
And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION."
(2 Corinthians 6:1-2)

Be Content to Submit

Jeremiah 19:15 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.’”

My daughter's attitude was awful as we sat in the waiting room of the doctors office. She was missing school for this follow up appointment so I asked her to do some of her school work while we waited. Big exaggerated sighs filled the air around her. Shoulder shrugs and head rolls became her posture.
"You're being ridiculous little girl!" "Drop the attitude and get your work done," I firmly explained. Her reply was ridiculous, she said, "Its hard I can't think of anything."
"Seriously?"
My patience was wearing thin. How can she be so unrealistic? How can she act like this is pure torture when there were people who have actually experienced torture? How can she be so ungrateful for the blessing of being taught when there are millions of children in different parts of the world who can't go to school and would do anything for a chance to learn and improve their lives?

Ungratefulness is a horrible disease that plagues all of us at least once a day. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowlege my own tendencies to feel sorry for myself. My children are little mirrors of my own ungrateful heart.

The bible says in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5 through 6
Let your conduct be without covetousness; 
be content with such things as you have. 
For He Himself has said, 
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 
So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?"

It is not easy to be content! Have you tried it? Only by the grace of God are we able to attaine such spiritual maturity. There is a delicate state our hearts must be attuned in order to receive this divine fruit of contentment. We must be willing and believing. We know we can do nothing in and of ourselves for it is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). But before that, we must be about working out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

A willing heart combined with faith in The all powerful God of the universe is the furtial soil we need to grow such divine spiritual fruit as contentment. Once contentment is established in the heart and feeding us we can toss out that old stinky leftover ungratefulness that's smelling up our fridge. Lay it down and be renewed and continue steadfastly in this loving kindness of our Father in heaven.

Holly sulked away her time in the doctors waiting room and didn't finished her school work. The school work must be done, unfortunately, now it might be at the cost of her play time. As with us, God will accomplish His work but we need to ask ourselves the question, "will I willing follow and be blessed or stiffen my neck and suffer the consequences?"

This seems like a silly comparison to use when a much greater cause is at hand. God has given us His word and so many souls stiffen their necks and harden their hearts from His Truth! It's a grave mistake that has eternal consequences! Hear His Words! John 14:6 says, Jesus is the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Him!

Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. 
(Hebrews 13:7-9)

Love Covers All Sin

The wise in heart will receive commands, 

but a prating fool will fall. 

(Proverbs 10:8)

Hatred stirs up strife, 

but love covers all sins. 

(Proverbs 10:12)

He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, 

but he who refuses correction goes astray. 

(Proverbs 10:17)

We've all been hurt and we've all hurt others. Evil abounds in this fallen land. What can we do to alleviate the pain and heartache of sin done to us and done through us? Love!

My kids love to say, "Thats not fair!" I have thought the same when I think about the pain I've experienced due to other peoples sins. But we live in a fallen world where sin abounds and consequences are real and often times extremely painful not only for the ones committing the offense but also their family and friends.

Jesus taught us to be angry but do not sin. Why? Because He is our defense and one day we will all give an account before Him. Let Jesus be our example. You can trust Him! He knows the pain you've suffered and He wants You to share that with Him. Tell Him how You feel and leave the pain at His feet. He wants to take it from you and heal Your broken heart. Will you let Him?

There will be a punishment for sinners, for those who reject God's love. Shouldn't there be? We've suffered real pain and justice must be served. There is an eternal hereafter. We are eternal beings and our eternal destiny is in our own hands. Love isn't forceful, we have free will. Beleive what you will but make sure you've considered the eternal cost.

Love, suffers long with us. God is so patient as we mock Him and reject Him day after day after day. He freely gave His Son to die for sinners. His Son who knew no sin and was cherished by Him because He was perfect and Holy, would give up His life knowing that was the cost of loving us and saving us from our sin. Jesus Christ the Son of God, the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, came to live among us and be an example of Love to us through His death on the cross.

How is it that we can so flippantly reject His LOVE?

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says, "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."

Satan is still deceiving the world. It started in the garden and it continues to this day. He whispers lies in our ears and says, "Did God really say that? He doesn't love you! If He did He would let you have what you want. If He really loved you, you wouldn't have experienced so much heartache in your life. You would have a blessed, happy, rich life with no pain or suffering, if God really loved you." And we fall prey to his lies just like Adam and Eve.

But God knew we would and He had a plan. He would reveal His love to us by accepting us as we are and making a way for us to be reconciled to Him by the perfect atonement, Jesus Christ! We need only cry out to God to save us from our sin and look to His finished work on the cross and turn from our own ways and begin to follow after Him.

I am so grateful for my life! It hasn't been an easy road but if it hadn't been for the trials of life I wouldn't know the blessings! How can anyone understand good things unless they have experienced evil?

Lord, we have all sinned and fall short of Your glory. Teach us that without Jesus Christ we are nothing. Infact, 1 Corinthians 13 says if we have not love we are nothing. Jesus is Your epistle written in blood, known and read by all men. There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. Jesus save us! Lord open our eyes and our ear to Your truth and help us recognize the lies of the enemy. Keep us under the shadow of Your wings. Let us not despise correction or Your commandments. Teach us to love Your law and cause us to know You more, by faith! We ask in the name of Jesus, amen!

The way of the Lord is strength for the upright, 

but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity. 

(Proverbs 10:29)

The righteous will never be removed, 

but the wicked will not inhabit the earth. 

(Proverbs 10:30)

Receiving The Blessings With The Curses

He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, 

And they inherited the labor of the nations,

That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. 

Praise the LORD!

Psa 105:44-45

God is so good to me! He gives me everything I need and more! He has provided for me and my children all of our lives but specifically since 2009 when cancer rocked our world. We have lacked nothing and received more than we could have ever imagined had we worked towards the same end. God proved that He is my provider and I pray I never forget all He has done for me! One example of His provision in my life can be found here...Got Milk?

Deuteronomy 9:6-7 Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 

The Lord has taught me through my own wilderness how I have been rebellious towards Him. I have lashed out in anger and been stiffnecked towards His unfolding plan for my life. I pray I never forget how the Lord has loved me despite my unbelief and unyielding spirit. Grief At It's Best is a post I wrote in the midst of overwhelming pain. It is good to cry out to God when we don't understand but we must never lose hope! 

These joined with their brethren, and their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law.... Nehemiah 10:29

It is both a blessing and a curse to chose to be a Christian. I would rather trust and follow Jesus' ways than my own! I may fall into various trials and suffer many afflictions following Christ Jesus but, I would rather choose to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in this world, for I look to the reward. Sometimes we are Called Aside, away from fellowship and from friends to be tested by God to see if we are willing to follow even if that means we follow Him alone. 

My reward is not living my best life now! It is living in light of eternity and clinging to hope that one day Jesus will come back and right all the wrong and wipe away every tear and there will be no more sadness no more pain and no more death! He has promised! Grief Run Deep, Where is The Hope?

The miraculous truth is I can have heaven on earth now as I continue to surrender my life to Him! His ways' are perfect, His word is true, His grace is enough, His peace surpasses all understanding and His love is unending! Thanksgiving in the midst of the Valley of The Shadow of Death is one way we can experience heaven on earth. 

Lord I don't always understand your ways' especially when pain comes my way, but I trust You and Your word says You will use all things for good. God I pray You would take this pain and use it for Your glory! I cannot change what already is but I can surrender it into Your almighty hands to do with it as You please. I am Yours Lord and there is no safer place I could be!

A Guilty Heart Receives No Love

But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

(1 Corinthians 2:9)

It is a miracle that any of us are saved! First we have to admit we are sinners, determine our way is the wrong way and turn around and follow Jesus. The problem is, on one hand we don't think we are all that bad so we stand our ground believing as long as we don't kill anyone we should be safe. On the other hand we can become so consumed with guilt and shame over our sin that we believe, "there is no way God would love us."

Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Pride gets in the way of our salvation on both accounts. We think too highly of ourselves or too lowly, either way we are thinking of ourselves too much! Guilt and shame can be a good thing if they lead a person to repentance. But linger too long in the valley of "woe is me," and you've rejected God's love. 

How can a person born into sin, full of worldly knowledge and experiences, convinced in their heart of their own understandings, receive something as wonderful as God's perfect love? How can a person who has heard the gospel, receive and accept God's amazing love knowing full well they don't deserve His love? How can we even comprehend the mystery of God? 

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

God has freely given us His love!
Love, what is love?
Right here you have a choice; base your answer on things you've experienced, maybe read or seen in a movie, or receive something by faith, that is of God!

1 Corinthians 13 tells us that; "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." 

Love suffers and is kind? Kind of a crazy thought right? Jesus suffered and died on the cross all for love.

Love does not envy? Jesus didn't envy His disciples who would outlive Him or consider it unfair that He being perfect and sinless should bear the iniquity of us all.

Love does not parade itself? Jesus, being God, could have come down as a king with riches and servants, but instead made himself of no reputation.

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 
(John 15:9)

We can only know love by the Spirit of God! We can only be loving with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. The spirit of man doesn't know these Godly truths and certainly can't practice them in his own strength! We need to forget what we know or have experienced and, by faith believe in God's love!

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 

(1 John 4:7-9). 

The tricky part is knowing where your heart is. Do you believe that God loves you or is your heart filled with so much guilt and shame that you can't receive His love. We fill our hearts with so much junk it literally becomes like a stone wall blocking the flow of love going out and coming in. We think we're keeping our hearts safe by shutting down when in reality we just cause our beating hearts to grow cold and dark.

Praise God for His word in Ezekiel 36: 26-27. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them..

Do you want a new heart? Do you want to live your life fully and not numb yourself because of fear or guilt or shame? Then cry out to Jesus and get in the Word of God!

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. (Acts 2: 41-43)

God has cleansed us by the washing of the word

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you (John 15:3).

Lay down your guilt and shame at Jesus' feet and receive His love so that you in turn can love others. Because the only thing we keep in this life is what we give away!

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14)

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor 13:13)

Lord give us clarity by the Holy Spirit. Help us to see and hear the things You have prepared for us the ones You love! Help us to receive Your love because we are fully aware we do not deserve Your love! Our hearts are guilty before You but we rejoice knowing You have given us Your Son Jesus who took all our sin on Himself and paid our debt. May we, by faith in Jesus Christ, fully surrender to Your love so that we can love others! Forgive us for doubting Your love and for thinking we could be justified without the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Keep us close to You God and teach us not to fear. Help us to lay down our fears and put our faith in You! You are LOVE, and LOVE never fails! Thank You for Your word, in Jesus name amen!

He Is A Jealous God!

And God spake all these words, saying,

I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, 

out of the house of bondage.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, 

or any likeness of any-thing that is in heaven above, 

or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: 

for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, 

visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children 

unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, 

and keep my commandments.

(Exodus 20:1-6)

Can jealousy be loving? 

One of the definitions of jealousy is, vigilance in maintaining or guarding something (Courtesy of Dictionary.com). 

I always thought jealousy was a bad thing. So why do I like it when people are jealous for me? I like being the one my kids call mom, I am their mom! I like that they run to me when they get hurt and that they need me and they love me. They don't call anyone else mom and if they did I don't think I would like that...correction, I would hate that!!! I would hate it if they ran to another person calling out mommy when I was standing right there...how heart breaking!

On the same note, I like the idea of marriage, where the wife belongs to the husband and the husband belongs to the wife and no one else should ever come between them! Marriage is a holy union between two people who love each other and it is right and good! 

On a side note, wedding vows are till death do you part. Did you know that the word widow has a definition meaning to deprive of anything cherished or needed? In Genesis 2:18, the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” We NEED each other! 

Need; a physiological or psychological requirement for the well-being of an organism. I am all about definitions in this blog!!!

God is our maker. He is our Father. He is our Husband! Of course He would be jealous for us! If He wasn't jealous for us He wouldn't be very loving! 

Did you know that iniquity means, immoral or grossly unfair behavior. When we run to another who is not our God, even if we seek solic unto ourselves, we have committed an immoral and grossly unfair behavior. It is sin to NOT turn to God for our every need, want, or desire! We violate our Holy union when we disregard Him and ignore Him. 

How painful is it to have a child ignore you? How painful is it to have a spouse disregard you and turn to another for their needs or wants or desires? God has given us relationships here on earth to show us our need for Him! Everywhere you turn there is proof of His love for us and we disregard Him and ignore Him.

When you think of a father loving his daughter, in a right and pure way, you wonder how he could freely give her away to a man who doesn't know her the way the father knows her. The father was there at her beginning, in ideal circumstances, and comforted her in the night when she cried. He saw her grow and learn and laugh and play and weep and mourn. Now he has to give her away to a man, in marriage, who hasn't known her and trust that this man will at least love her as much as he does and hope that the daughter will always regard her father and keep him in her heart as her first love, the one who was with her through all of her growing seasons. 

Wow, I don't know how God so selflessly lets us be married and have children knowing that our hearts can so easily turn from Him to the people He so freely gives us to love and be loved by. We forget Him and lift up our hearts to others. We are so full of iniquity! 

Graven image

Did you know one of the definitions for grave is, requiring serious thought. God warns us not to create for ourselves any graven images. Why do you think God would make a commandment like that? 

Have you ever seen someone, or maybe you have carved or drawn an image that required such intense serious thought? Artists pour themselves into their creations. God poured Himself into His creation! We are His workmanship! He loves us more than we could ever comprehend! He knows our hearts are easily drawn away from Him so He commands us, out of His great knowledge of our sinful hearts....being as He was the One who created our hearts, to NOT worship the things we create!

We love to love ourselves and when we create something, 'that thing', is an expression of ourselves that we love to love. So even if we claim to have another god, we are still worshiping something we've created and proclaiming our own awesomeness. Sounds pretty ridiculous to believe in anything other than the ONE TRUE GOD!

Lord, thank You for Your jealousy for us! You guard us and protect us even as we disregard and ignore You. Lord You are so good and loving to let us enjoy relationships knowing our hearts are prone to wander. Lord forbid that my heart would ever wander from You being my first love! You are amazing God in all You do. Help us all to bring glory to Your name in all we say and do, by Your Son's Holy name I pray amen!

Hello my name is child of the One True King!

A Hankering For Truth

Let your conduct be without covetousness; 
be content with such things as you have. 
For He Himself has said, 
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 
So we may boldly say:

“The Lord is my helper;

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?”

Remember those who rule over you, 
who have spoken the word of God to you, 
whose faith follow, 
considering the outcome of their conduct. 
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

(Hebrews 13:5-8)

We are a discontented people. We murmur and complain when we lack and we are unthankful and wasteful when we have plenty. God suffers with us long!

How many of us can actually say we are content with our portion? How many of us can say God is our everything?

We are to hold loosely to the things of the world. Abraham held loosely to his beloved son when God asked him to sacrifice him on the altar. Noah held loosely to his reputation as he labored away on the ark that God told him to build, even though the general senses was that Noah had lost his mind. Daniel held loosely to his own life when he knelt down to pray to God, even though Nebuchadnezzar had decreed a death sentence to anyone found in such an act.

So too are we supposed to hold the things of this world loosely; our relationships, our jobs, our educational successes, our physical abilities, our financial status, our belongings, our life....everything! And, the clincher, be content!!!  

The tenth commandment tells us not to covet! The definition of that word is simply; yearn, crave, desire, hanker, or lust to possess or have something. Right now I have a hankering for a big bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream with pretzels on top...Mmmm!!! Is that a sin? I think if that craving becomes to us a distraction and a stumbling block in our daily walk with the Lord then yes perhaps it is sin! God's heart isn't to withhold good things from us, He wants us to be thankful and enjoy the good things He's brought into our lives. But, for our own good, remember our first love! God should be first in our lives!

God created everything. Then He created man to share in the everything that God had created. Man was told to tend and keep the heavenly garden God had given him. The man was allowed to eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. My guess...I think that tree must have been the prettiest tree in the garden to behold! I think the tree of life must have been the ugliest tree! Then the man had to decide if he would trust God and live or put his faith in another and die.

For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 1 John 2:16

What do you have a hankering for? Hopefully for the living water and the bread of life! If so, read on hungry soul!

Romans Chapter 12

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.