I am pulled in opposite directions. My desire is to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far better, but, it is a more urgent need for you that I remain in the body.
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.
Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual consent for a specified time so as to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you by taking advantage of your lack of self-control.
The Lord God said, “Behold, man has become like one of us, for he has knowledge of that which is good and that which is evil. Now, we must prevent him from reaching out and taking the fruit of the tree of life lest he eat it and live forever.” The Lord God cast him out of the Garden of Eden; henceforth he was to labor tilling the soil from which he had come.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was opened, the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their deeds, as were recorded in the scrolls. The sea gave up all the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. The dead were judged according to their deeds.
For all have sinned and thereby are deprived of the glory of God, and all are justified by the gift of his grace that is given freely through the redemption in Christ Jesus.
The Lord does not delay in keeping his promise, as some think in terms of delay, but he is patient with you. It is not his wish that any should perish but rather that all should be brought to repentance.