¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^[a] a worker ^(A)who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

⁴ but just as we have been approved by God ^(A)to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not ^(B)to please man, but to please God ^(C)who tests our hearts.

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus

^6 (A)If you put these things before the brothers,^[a] you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have ^(B)followed.

¹⁰ Therefore, brothers,^[a] be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and ^(A)election, for if you practice these qualities ^(B)you will never fall.

⁹ So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to ^(A)please him.

¹⁸ For it is ^(A)not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one ^(B)whom the Lord commends.

^12 (A)Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers ^(B)an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. ^14 (C)Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you ^(D)by prophecy when the council of elders ^(E)laid their hands on you. ¹⁵ Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,^[a] so that ^(F)all may see your progress. ^16 (G)Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save ^(H)both yourself and ^(I)your hearers.

² But we have renounced ^(A)disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice^[a] cunning or ^(B)to tamper with God's word, but ^(C)by the open statement of the truth ^(D)we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

¹⁰ For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying ^(A)to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a ^(B)servant^[a] of Christ.