⁷ Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us^[a]—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.

⁵ In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

⁸ The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Encouragement during Persecution

³ Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.

⁹ I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

⁸ And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.

Food Sacrificed to Idols

8 Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. ² Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much.

⁶ So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving.

⁸ Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages^[a] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!

¹³ Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,^[a] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.^[b]