Good morning. Now chapter
3 starts out with the old: wives be submissive and husbands live with you wives
in an understanding way. We will skip over that part - you've heard enough
about it. Now the next few verses can stand alone for all Christians; but we
are going to look at them in context of husbands and wives. To sum up, let all
be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind hearted, and humble in spirit; not
returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead;
for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
That is the way it should be between husbands and wives. If they acted like
that, how much better would marriage be? Too often there is no harmony, they
are not sympathetic to one another, they are not kind hearted, they do return
evil for evil and insult for insult, and they certainly don't give a blessing.
But again these verses apply to all Christians in their relationships with one
another. Refrain your tongue from evil; turn away from evil and do good; seek
peace and pursue it – for the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His
ears attend to their prayers. And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous
for what is good? Father thank You that the reader lives in harmony and gives
blessings instead of insults. Your eyes are upon him/her, and You bless him/her
daily!
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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