Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; 
pray that God will bless them.

When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. 
Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Rejoice in our confident hope. 
Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.

 Love each other with genuine affection, 
and take delight in honoring each other.

Don’t just pretend to love others. 
Really love them. Hate what is wrong. 
Hold tightly to what is good.

If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. 
If it is giving, give generously. 
If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. 
And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

If your gift is serving others, serve them well. 
If you are a teacher, teach well.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. 
So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, 
speak out with as much faith as God has given you.

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 
so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, 
I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. 
Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, 
but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. 
Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. 
Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable.

For everything comes from him and exists by his power 
and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever!

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! 
How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

Those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, 
and you are there because you do believe.

And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, 
have been grafted in. 
So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, 
sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.

God offered salvation to the rest of the world, 
their acceptance will be even more wonderful. 
It will be life for those who were dead!

Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.

Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! 
They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles.

And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. 
For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is free and undeserved.

So faith comes from hearing, that is, 
hearing the Good News about Christ.