Study Desk

You must do this not just to please your masters while they are watching, but all the time. Since you are really slaves of Christ, you must do with all your heart what God wants.

But those others tell about Christ because of their selfish ambition. Their reason for doing it is wrong. They only do it because they think it will make trouble for me in prison.

But that doesn't matter. What is important is that they are telling people about Christ, whether they are sincere or not. So I am glad they are doing it. I will continue to be glad,

If I continue living here on earth, I will be able to work for the Lord. But what would I choose—to live or to die? I don't know.

God has blessed you in ways that serve Christ. He allowed you to believe in Christ. But that is not all. He has also given you the honor of suffering for Christ. Both of these bring glory to Christ.

Don't be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.

He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit.

so that you will be blameless and pure, children of God without any fault. But you are living with evil people all around you, who have lost their sense of what is right. Among those people you shine like lights in a dark world,

Your faith makes you give your lives as a sacrifice in serving God. Maybe I will have to offer my own life with your sacrifice. But if that happens, I will be glad, and I will share my joy with all of you.

but now he wants very much to see all of you again. He is worried because you heard that he was sick.

He was sick and near death. But God helped him and me too, so that I would not have even more grief.

But we are the ones who have the true circumcision—we who worship God through his Spirit. We don't trust in ourselves or anything we can do. We take pride only in Christ Jesus.

At one time all these things were important to me. But because of Christ, I decided that they are worth nothing.

Not only these things, but now I think that all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Christ, I lost all these things, and now I know that they are all worthless trash. All I want now is Christ.

I want to belong to him. In Christ I am right with God, but my being right does not come from following the law. It comes from God through faith. God uses my faith in Christ to make me right with him.

I don't mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That's what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his.

Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me.

But we should continue following the truth we already have.

But the government that rules us is in heaven. We are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from there.

Don't worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks for what you have.