31 So, whether you eat or drink, or ^uwhatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

A Living Sacrifice

1 ^zI appeal to you therefore, brothers,¹ by the mercies of God, ^ato present your bodies ^bas a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.² 2 ^cDo not be conformed to this world,³ but be transformed by ^dthe renewal of your mind, that by testing you may ^ediscern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.⁴

Gifts of Grace

3 For ^fby the grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^gnot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, ^heach according to ⁱthe measure of faith that God has assigned.

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^wsin which clings so closely, and ^xlet us run ^ywith endurance the race that is ^zset before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ^awho for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^bthe shame, and ^cis seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 ^b“If you love me, you will ^ckeep my commandments.

23 Jesus answered him, ^w“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and ^xwe will come to him and ^ymake our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And ^zthe word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ^bkeep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments ^cis a liar, and ^cthe truth is not in him, 5 but whoever ^dkeeps his word, in him truly ^ethe love of God is perfected. ^fBy this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he ^gabides in him ^hought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The Cheerful Giver

6 The point is this: ^vwhoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully¹ will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^wnot reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^xGod loves a cheerful giver. 8 And ^yGod is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency² in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,

2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

9 And so, ^rfrom the day we heard, ^swe have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^tyou may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^uspiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as ^vto walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^wfully pleasing to him: ^xbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

5 I am the vine; ^ayou are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that ^bbears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

18 And ^sdo not get drunk with wine, for that is ^tdebauchery, but ^ube filled with the Spirit,

28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that ^twe may present everyone ^umature in Christ.