Everyone who seeks a prize submits himself to rigorous self-discipline in every respect. They do so to win a perishable crown, while we seek an imperishable one.
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and whose hope is the Lord. They will be like a tree planted by the water that spreads out its roots to the stream. When the heat comes, it does not fear; its leaves stay green. It is not concerned in a year of drought, and it never fails to bear fruit.
No one can serve two masters. For you will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
For everything that is in the world— the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life— comes not from the Father but from the world.
While physical training has some value, the benefits of godliness are unlimited, since it holds out promise not only for this life but also for the life to come.
Do not let kindness and fidelity leave you; fasten them around your neck and inscribe them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will gain favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
Then Nehemiah added: “You now may go. Eat rich food and drink what is sweet. Moreover, send some of these to those for whom nothing has been prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Furthermore, do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
In the same way, even the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs that cannot be put into words.
Therefore, rid yourselves of everything sordid and of every wicked excess, and welcome in all humility the word that is implanted in you and is able to save your souls.
For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink.
Anyone who has received my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.
Even though I wander through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are at my side, with your rod and your staff that comfort me.