Treasure in Fragile Clay Jars

4 Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way,^[a] we never give up.

¹³ As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.

⁹ So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

¹³ So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.

¹³ For I can do everything through Christ,^[a] who gives me strength.

¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are^[a] being renewed every day.

⁷ By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.

⁸ Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.

³ Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people;^[a] then you won’t become weary and give up.

⁶ He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.