overcoming insecurity

⁶Be anxious about nothing. But in all things, with prayer and supplication, with acts of thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. ⁷And so shall the peace of God, which exceeds all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸Concerning the rest, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is chaste, whatever is just, whatever is holy, whatever is worthy to be loved, whatever is of good repute, if there is any virtue, if there is any praiseworthy discipline: meditate on these. ⁹All the things that you have learned and accepted and heard and seen in me, do these. And so shall the God of peace be with you.

¹⁸Fear is not in love. Instead, perfect love casts out fear, for fear pertains to punishment. And whoever fears is not perfected in love.

¹⁰Concerning the rest, brothers, be strengthened in the Lord, by the power of his virtue. ¹¹Be clothed in the armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the treachery of the devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the directors of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places. ¹³Because of this, take up the armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand the evil day and remain perfect in all things. ¹⁴Therefore, stand firm, having been girded about your waist with truth, and having been clothed with the breastplate of justice, ¹⁵and having feet which have been shod by the preparation of the Gospel of peace.

²⁵And so I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, as to what you will eat, nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Consider the birds of the air, how they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much greater value than they are? ²⁷And which of you, by thinking, is able to add one cubit to his stature? ²⁸And as for clothing, why are you anxious? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither work nor weave. ²⁹But I say to you, that not even Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed like one of these. ³⁰So if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and cast into the oven tomorrow, how much more will he care for you, O little in faith?

¹³Temptation should not take hold of you, except what is human. For God is faithful, and he will not permit you to be tempted beyond your ability. Instead, he will effect his Providence, even during temptation, so that you may be able to bear it.

²And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who are not walking according to the flesh. ²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and death. ³For though this was impossible under the law, because it was weakened by the flesh, God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and because of sin, in order to condemn sin in the flesh, ⁴so that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us. For we are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. ⁵For those who are in agreement with the flesh are mindful of the things of the flesh. But those who are in agreement with the spirit are mindful of the things of the spirit. ⁶For the prudence of the flesh is death. But the prudence of the spirit is life and peace.

⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, then you may ask for whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. ⁸In this, my Father is glorified: that you should bring forth very much fruit and become my disciples.

¹A Psalm of David. The Lord directs me, and nothing will be lacking to me. ²He has settled me here, in a place of pasture. He has led me out to the water of refreshment. ³He has converted my soul. He has led me away on the paths of justice, for the sake of his name. ⁴For, even if I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they have given me consolation. ⁵You have prepared a table in my sight, opposite those who trouble me. You have anointed my head with oil, and my cup, which inebriates me, how brilliant it is! ⁶And your mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and so may I dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days.

³²And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be saved. For the unremitting prayer of a just person prevails over many things.

¹And so, as a prisoner in the Lord, I beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the vocation to which you have been called: ²with all humility and meekness, with patience, supporting one another in charity. ³Be anxious to preserve the unity of the Spirit within the bonds of peace. ⁴One body and one Spirit: to this you have been called by the one hope of your calling: ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.

¹Therefore, having been justified by faith, let us be at peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²For through him we also have access by faith to this grace, in which we stand firm, and to glory, in the hope of the glory of the sons of God. ³And not only that, but we also find glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation exercises patience, ⁴and patience leads to proving, yet truly proving leads to hope, ⁵but hope is not unfounded, because the love of God is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. ⁶Yet why did Christ, while we were still infirm, at the proper time, suffer death for the impious?