1
Thessalonians 4: 1-12
Living to Please God
1Finally, brothers, we instructed you
how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you
in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2For you know
what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3It is God's will that you should be
sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that
each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take
advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you
and warned you. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to
live a holy life. 8Therefore, he who rejects this instruction
does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9Now about brotherly love we do not
need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia.
Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet
life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so
that you will not be dependent on anybody.
