Study Desk

because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants.

My brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people, but you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want, because you do not ask God.

Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things so you can use them for your own pleasures.

You rich people, listen! Cry and be very sad because of the troubles that are coming to you.

You, too, must be patient. Do not give up hope, because the Lord is coming soon.

We say they are happy because they did not give up. You have heard about Job's patience, and you know the Lord's purpose for him in the end. You know the Lord is full of mercy and is kind.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God's great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

It is written in the Scriptures: "You must be holy, because I am holy."

because you have already examined and seen how good the Lord is.

Also, he is "a stone that causes people to stumble, a rock that makes them fall." Isaiah 8:14 They stumble because they do not obey what God says, which is what God planned to happen to them.

This is what you were called to do, because Christ suffered for you and gave you an example to follow. So you should do as he did.

Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right. And you are healed because of his wounds.

In the same way, you husbands should live with your wives in an understanding way, since they are weaker than you. But show them respect, because God gives them the same blessing he gives you—the grace that gives true life. Do this so that nothing will stop your prayers.

Do not do wrong to repay a wrong, and do not insult to repay an insult. But repay with a blessing, because you yourselves were called to do this so that you might receive a blessing.

And that water is like baptism that now saves you—not the washing of dirt from the body, but the promise made to God from a good conscience. And this is because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.

Most importantly, love each other deeply, because love will cause people to forgive each other for many sins.

When people insult you because you follow Christ, you are blessed, because the glorious Spirit, the Spirit of God, is with you.

Do not suffer for murder, theft, or any other crime, nor because you trouble other people.

But if you suffer because you are a Christian, do not be ashamed. Praise God because you wear that name.