Study Desk

You know that we treated each one of you the way a father treats his own children.

But women will be saved in their work of having children. They will be saved if they continue to live in faith, love, and holiness with sensible behavior.

He must be a good leader of his own family. This means that his children obey him with full respect.

The men who are special servants must be faithful in marriage. They must be good leaders of children and their own families.

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, the first thing they need to learn is this: to show their devotion to God by taking care of their own family. They will be repaying their parents, and this pleases God.

She must be known for the good she has done: raising children, welcoming travelers into her home, serving the needs of God's people, helping those in trouble, and using her life to do all kinds of good.

So I want the younger widows to marry, have children, and take care of their homes. If they do this, our enemy will not have any reason to criticize them.

To be an elder, a man must not be guilty of living in a wrong way. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be faithful to God. They must not be known as children who are wild or don't obey.

By doing this they will teach the younger women to love their husbands and children.

We were made right with God by his grace. God saved us so that we could be his children and look forward to receiving life that never ends.

God—the one who made all things and for whose glory all things exist—wanted many people to be his children and share his glory. So he did what he needed to do. He made perfect the one who leads those people to salvation. He made Jesus a perfect Savior through his suffering.

He also says, "I will trust in God." And he says, "I am here, and with me are the children God has given me."

These children are people with physical bodies. So Jesus himself became like them and had the same experiences they have. Jesus did this so that, by dying, he could destroy the one who has the power of death—the devil.

Sarah was not able to have children, and Abraham was too old. But he had faith in God, trusting him to do what he promised. And so God made them able to have children.

You are children of God, and he speaks words of comfort to you. You have forgotten these words: "My child, don't think the Lord's discipline is worth nothing, and don't stop trying when he corrects you.

So accept sufferings like a father's discipline. God does these things to you like a father correcting his children. You know that all children are disciplined by their fathers.

So, if you never receive the discipline that every child must have, you are not true children and don't really belong to God.

You have come to the meeting of God's firstborn children. Their names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all people. And you have come to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect.

Now we wait to receive the blessings God has for his children. These blessings are kept for you in heaven. They cannot be ruined or be destroyed or lose their beauty.

In the past you did not have the understanding you have now, so you did the evil things you wanted to do. But now you are children of God, so you should obey him and not live the way you did before.