A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls. | Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls. |
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. | For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. |
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In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. | But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. |
Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city. | He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. |
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! | But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. |
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. | So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. |
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. | Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. |
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. | No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. |
So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. | Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. |
A fool is quick-tempered, but a wise person stays calm when insulted. | A fool’s wrath is known at once, But a prudent man covers shame. |
Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back. | A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back. |
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God. | For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. |
I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. | But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. |
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. | And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. |
All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. | And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. |
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. | For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. |
Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. | Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil. |
Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. | Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. |
I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. | I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman? |
Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. | Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. |
God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. | For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God. |