13 Listen to me! You say, Today or tomorrow we will go to that town. We will stay there a year. We will buy and sell and get rich. But you do not know what will happen to you tomorrow.
14 What is your life like? It is like a cloud. It is here for a little while and then it is gone.
15 You should say If the Lord wants to do it, we will live and do this or that.
16 But now you talk about the big things you will do. All that kind of talk is wrong!
17 But if a person knows what he should do and he does not do it, he has done something wrong.
10 Our fathers on earth punished us for a short time the way they wanted to. But God punishes us the way it is good for us. He is holy and good, so he wants us to become holy also.
11 At the time a person is punished, he is not glad. He is sad. But after it is over, there is peace. Then those who are trained by it do what is right.
12 I do not mean to say that I have got there yet, or that I am perfect yet. But I am trying hard to get there, because that is why Christ saved me.
13 My brothers, I do not yet think that I have got all the things of Christ. But there is one thing that I am doing. I forget what is behind me and reach out to what is ahead of me.
14 Like a man running a race, I try hard to reach the line so that I will receive the prize. Because we belong to Christ Jesus, God is calling us to receive this prize that he has for us in heaven.
15 All of us who are grown-up Christians should feel this way. And if you do not think this way, God will show you the right way.
14 Beside all these, you must have love. This joins everything together as it should be.
15 Hold on to the peace of God which is in your hearts. You were called to have peace because you are all like one body. Be thankful.
17 But it is God who has done all this. He sent Christ to make peace with us and to bring us back to himself. Now he has given us the work of bringing other people back to God.
13 My brothers, I do not yet think that I have got all the things of Christ. But there is one thing that I am doing. I forget what is behind me and reach out to what is ahead of me.
14 Like a man running a race, I try hard to reach the line so that I will receive the prize. Because we belong to Christ Jesus, God is calling us to receive this prize that he has for us in heaven.
3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He was very kind to us, and made us his children. So we have a new hope. This hope is a living hope because Jesus Christ was raised from death.