striving for excellence

²³Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord, and not for men. ²⁴For you know that you will receive from the Lord the repayment of an inheritance. Serve Christ the Lord.

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.

¹²It is not as though I have already received this, or were already perfect. But rather I pursue, so that by some means I might attain, that in which I have already been attained by Christ Jesus. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have already attained this. Instead, I do one thing: forgetting those things that are behind, and extending myself toward those things that are ahead, ¹⁴I pursue the destination, the prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Therefore, as many of us as are being perfected, let us agree about this. And if in anything you disagree, God will reveal this to you also. ¹⁶Yet truly, whatever point we reach, let us be of the same mind, and let us remain in the same rule.

¹²Let no one despise your youth, but be an example among the faithful in word, in behavior, in charity, in faith, in chastity.

³Open your works to the Lord, and your intentions will be set in order.

¹⁴But I am also certain about you, my brothers, that you also have been filled with love, completed with all knowledge, so that you are able to admonish one another.

¹⁷Let everything whatsoever that you do, whether in word or in deed, be done all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

¹²Keep your behavior among the Gentiles to what is good, so that, when they slander you as if you were evildoers, they may, by the good works that are seen in you, glorify God on the day of visitation.

¹³And the Lord will appoint you as the head, and not as the tail. And you shall be always above, and not beneath. But only if you will listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I entrust to you this day, and will keep and do them,

⁴⁸Therefore, be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

¹Therefore, having these promises, most beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God.

³¹Give to her from the fruit of her own hands. And let her works praise her at the gates.

⁸Yet truly, I consider everything to be a loss, because of the preeminent knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of everything, considering it all to be like dung, so that I may gain Christ,

²⁵Similarly, too, good deeds have been made manifest, but even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.

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?

²⁸And God blessed them, and he said, “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

²³Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord, and not for men.