The Life that the Lord Has Assigned

¹⁷ However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches.^(A)

¹⁷ For this reason I sent^[a] you Timothy, who is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

²⁴ In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters, there remain with God.

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.^{(A) 4} For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function,^{(B) 5} so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶ We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith;^{(C) 7} ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;^{(D) 8} the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.^(E)

²⁸ And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.

²⁰ Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.^(A)

²¹ Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make the most of it.^[a]

¹⁸ Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.^(A)

¹⁸ With him we are sending the brother who is praised among all the churches for his work for the gospel,^(A)

³³ for God is a God not of disorder but of peace), as in all the churches of the saints.

⁷ I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.^(A)