³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or ^(A)whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

A Living Sacrifice

12 ^(A)I appeal to you therefore, brothers,^[a] by the mercies of God, ^(B)to present your bodies ^(C)as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.^{[b] 2 (D)}Do not be conformed to this world,^[c] but be transformed by ^(E)the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may ^(F)discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^[d]

Gifts of Grace

³ For ^(G)by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^(H)not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, ^(I)each according to ^(J)the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^(A)sin which clings so closely, and ^(B)let us run ^(C)with endurance the race that is ^(D)set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ^(E)who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^(F)the shame, and ^(G)is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

^15 (A)“If you love me, you will ^(B)keep my commandments.

²³ Jesus answered him, ^(A)“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and ^(B)we will come to him and ^(C)make our home with him. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And ^(D)the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

³ And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ^(A)keep his commandments. ⁴ Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments ^(B)is a liar, and ^(C)the truth is not in him, ⁵ but whoever ^(D)keeps his word, in him truly ^(E)the love of God is perfected. ^(F)By this we may know that we are in him: ⁶ whoever says he ^(G)abides in him ^(H)ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The Cheerful Giver

⁶ The point is this: ^(A)whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully^[a] will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^(B)not reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^(C)God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And ^(D)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency^[b] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹ As it is written,

² Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

⁹ And so, ^(A)from the day we heard, ^(B)we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^(C)you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^(D)spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as ^(E)to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^(F)fully pleasing to him: ^(G)bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;