So I, ^athe prisoner for the Lord, ^bappeal to you to ^clive a life worthy of the ^dcalling to which you have been ^ecalled that is, to live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior—a life that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation, 2 with all ^ahumility forsaking self-righteousness, and gentleness maintaining self-control, with patience, bearing with one another ^1bin unselfish love. 3 Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the ^abond of peace each individual working together to make the whole successful. 4 There is ^aone body of believers and one Spirit—just as you were called to one ^bhope when called to salvation— 5 ^aone Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of us all ^awho is sovereign over all and working through all and living in all.

7 Yet ^agrace God’s undeserved favor was given ^bto each one of us not indiscriminately, but in different ways ^cin proportion to the measure of Christ’s rich and abundant gift. 8 Therefore it says,“^aWHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,HE ^bLED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE,AND HE BESTOWED GIFTS ON MEN.” Ps 68:18 9 (Now this expression, “He ^aascended,” what does it mean except that He also had previously descended from the heights of heaven into ^bthe lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the very same as He who also has ascended ^ahigh above all the heavens, that He His presence might ^bfill all things that is, the whole universe). 11 And His gifts to the church were varied and He Himself ^aappointed ^bsome as apostles special messengers, representatives, some as prophets who speak a new message from God to the people, some as ^cevangelists who spread the good news of salvation, and some as pastors and ^dteachers to shepherd and guide and instruct, 12 and He did this ^ato fully equip and perfect the saints (God’s people) for works of service, to build up the ^bbody of Christ the church; 13 until we all reach ^aoneness in the faith and in the ^bknowledge of the Son of God, growing spiritually to become a ^cmature believer, reaching to the measure of the ^dfullness of Christ manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity. 14 So that we are ^ano longer children spiritually immature, ^btossed back and forth like ships on a stormy sea and carried about by every wind of shifting doctrine, by the ^ccunning and trickery of unscrupulous men, by ^dthe deceitful scheming of people ready to do anything for personal profit. 15 But speaking the truth ^ain love in all things—both our speech and our lives expressing His truth, let us ^bgrow up in all things into Him following His example who is the ^cHead—Christ. 16 From Him ^athe whole body the church, in all its various parts, joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up ^1bin unselfish love.

17 ^aSo this I say, and solemnly affirm together with the Lord as in His presence, ^bthat you must no longer live as the unbelieving Gentiles live, in the ^cfutility of their minds and in the foolishness and emptiness of their souls, 18 for ^atheir moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; they are ^balienated and self-banished from the life of God with no share in it; this is because of the willful ^cignorance and spiritual blindness that is deep-seated within them, because of the ^dhardness and insensitivity of their heart. 19 And they, the ungodly in their spiritual apathy, having ^abecome callous and unfeeling, ^bhave given themselves over as prey to unbridled ^csensuality, eagerly craving the practice of every kind of impurity that their desires may demand. 20 But you did not ^alearn Christ in this way! 21 If in fact you ^ahave really heard Him and have ^bbeen taught by Him, just as truth is in Jesus revealed in His life and personified in Him, 22 that, regarding your previous way of life, you ^aput off your ^bold self completely discard your former nature, which is being corrupted through ^cdeceitful desires, 23 and be continually ^arenewed in the spirit of your mind having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude, 24 and ^aput on the ^bnew self the regenerated and renewed nature, created ^cin God’s image, godlike in the righteousness and holiness of the truth living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation.

25 Therefore, ^arejecting all falsehood whether lying, defrauding, telling half-truths, spreading rumors, any such as these, ^bSPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are all ^cparts of one another and we are all parts of the body of Christ. Zech 8:16 26 ^aBE ANGRY at sin—at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior, YET DO NOT SIN; do not let your anger cause you shame, nor allow it to last until the sun goes down. Ps 4:4 27 And do not ^agive the devil an opportunity to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness. 28 The thief who has become a believer must no longer steal, but instead ^ahe must work hard making an honest living, ^bproducing that which is good with his own hands, ^cso that he will have something to share with those in need. 29 Do not let ^aunwholesome foul, profane, worthless, vulgar words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for ^bbuilding up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear you speak. 30 And ^ado not grieve the Holy Spirit of God but seek to please Him, by whom you were ^bsealed and marked branded as God’s own for the day of redemption the final deliverance from the consequences of sin. Eph 1:13, 14; Phil 3:20, 21 31 ^aLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding and slander be ^bput away from you, along with every kind of ^cmalice all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence. 32 ^aBe kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted compassionate, understanding, forgiving one another readily and freely, ^bjust as God in Christ also forgave ¹you.