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Think about heaven, and live God’s way
1-3 You see, you have new life now from Jesus Christ. He is up in heaven now, sitting with God, at God’s right-hand side. He is a powerful boss there with God. Remember that Jesus died, then God made him alive again, and God lifted him up from the grave. Well, you believe in Jesus now, so you have to be better than you used to be. It is like you died with him, and then God made you alive again, and now you live for Jesus. He is in heaven now, so you always have to think about doing good things that belong to heaven. Don’t think about doing bad things that belong to this earth. You are joined to Jesus Christ now, and he is joined to God. The people of this world can’t see that yet,
4 but when Jesus comes back, everyone will see him, and they will see that he is great. And they will see you too, and you will be great too.
Do what is right, don’t do what is wrong
5 So now you have to stop doing bad things. If that bad part inside you wants you to do something bad, don’t do it. It’s like you have to kill that old bad part inside you. Don’t listen to it. Don’t sleep with anyone that is not your wife or your husband, as if you are married to them. And don’t think bad, dirty thoughts. Don’t think about doing bad things. Don’t be greedy, wanting lots of money and things. Greedy people respect money and things more than they respect God.
6 You know, some people will not do what God says, and he will be angry with those people, and he will punish them.
7 At one time, you lived the wrong way, and you did bad things like that.
8 But now, don’t do these bad things any more. Don’t get angry easily. Don’t go around angry and yelling at people. Don’t hate people or think about giving them trouble. Don’t talk in a bad way about people, or tell lies about them. Don’t talk in a dirty way.
9 Don’t lie to each other. You see, you believed in Jesus, and you stopped living that old way. You stopped doing bad things.
10 You are now living a new way. God made you a new person, and he is helping you to know him properly. He is the one that made you, and now he is making you more like himself.
11 You are a new person now. It doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or not, or if they did a young man operation on you or not. It doesn’t matter if you are from another country, or even if you are from a wild tribe. It doesn’t matter if you are a prisoner, or a free person. This is what matters, Jesus Christ lives inside all of his people. He is really great.
Live God’s way
12 You see, God loves you. He picked you to be his own special people. So you have to live a new way for him. You have to be good to other people. You have to feel sorry for people that have trouble and try to help them. Don’t think that you are more important than other people. You have to be easy on other people, and don’t get angry with them, even if they give you trouble.
13 Don’t get upset with each other. If somebody does something bad to you, don’t do payback to them. Remember that God doesn’t do payback to you, for the bad things that you do. So don’t do payback to other people.
14 And you really have to love each other properly. When you love each other, it is like you properly join yourselves to each other.
15 Jesus Christ wants you to all live together in a quiet way, so let him make you feel happy and quiet inside yourselves, so that you think the right way. That’s how you can let him control you.
And think about the good things that God does for you, and always say thank you to him for them.
16 And always think about the message that came from Jesus Christ, so that you follow it all the time. Talk to each other about Jesus’s message, and help each other to follow it properly. Think about it the right way. If anyone starts to get it wrong, straighten each other out. Remember that God is really good to you, and always be ready to thank him by singing to him with hymns and songs that the Holy Spirit gives you.
17 Do everything the way our leader, Jesus, wants you to do it, and talk the way he wants you to talk. And always thank God, our father, for the good things that Jesus does for us.
Treat each other the right way
Husbands and wives
18 You women that are wives, you have to think about what your husbands want, and agree with them. That is the right way to follow our leader Jesus.
19 Yes, and you men that are husbands, you have to do your part too. You have to love your wives properly, and don’t ever be hard on them.
Kids and parents
20 And now I am talking to you kids. You always have to do whatever your mothers and fathers want. Our leader, Jesus, is happy when you do that.
21 And now I am talking to you fathers. Don’t be hard on your kids. Don’t make them get angry with you, or they might stop trying to be good.
Workers and bosses
22 And now I am talking to you people that have to work all the time for other people, like you are their prisoners. Make sure you always do whatever your bosses want. And don’t only work hard when they can see you, to make them think you are good. But also work hard when they can’t see you. Remember our leader, Jesus, can see you all the time, so respect him, and respect your bosses as you do your job.
23 Work as if you are working for our leader, Jesus, not for a normal human being. So work hard, and be happy about it.
24 Yes, you are working for our leader, Jesus Christ, and remember that later on he will pay you properly, just like he promised us.
25 But if you do what is wrong, God will do payback to you for the wrong things you do. God judges each person the same way, no matter who that person is.