Dear Follower of Jesus:
Are there things in your life you need to overcome for God’s glory? The honest answer for all Christians is yes.
Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. The works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Be imitators of God as dear children. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. I pray that you are overcoming the temptations and sin in your life – all for God’s glory.
Your Brother in Christ
Note on the ‘Biblical exhortation for Godly living’ (paragraphs in italics above):
Every word in the exhortation above has been taken directly from God’s Word (New King James Version – see scripture references below). However, I want to point out that piecing together scripture that has been ‘plucked’ out of the Bible and used without the context of verse, chapter and book can be a tricky and a quite dangerous practice. The context of all scripture is vital in understanding the truth God intended it to impart to us. Using small portions of scripture to communicate a message can lead to overemphasizing certain points, neglecting others, or even twisting scripture’s true and eternal meaning.
I have endeavored to include all the scripture in the exhortation above in a manner that honors the overall context of living a God-honoring life through salvation in Christ and by overcoming temptation and sin through the truth of His Word, the power and presence of His Spirit, and the victory over sin and death won by Christ at Calvary.
Scripture References
Paragraph 1
- Ephesians 4:1, Mark 12:30, 1 John 5:3-5, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 10:14, John 3:17
Paragraph 2
- Isaiah 64:6, Romans 7:19, Galatians 5:19-21, Matthew 15:19, Jeremiah 17:9
Paragraph 3
- Romans 8:37, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Galatians 5:22-23, Galatians 5:16, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:14-15, 1 John 4:4
Paragraph 4
- Ephesians 5:1, Ephesians 6:10, Colossians 1:10-11, Romans 12:2, Philippians 2:13
Paragraph 5
- Philippians 4:8, Romans 12:9-12
Paragraph 6
- Romans 5:1-5, Romans 12:21
Paragraph 7
- Hebrews 13:20-21
