²¹ To me, the only important thing about living is Christ. And even death would be for my benefit.^{[a] 22} If I continue living here on earth, I will be able to work for the Lord. But what would I choose—to live or to die? I don’t know. ²³ It would be a hard choice. Sometimes I want to leave this life and be with Christ. That would be much better for me;

²⁰ But the government that rules us is in heaven. We are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from there. ²¹ He will change our humble bodies and make them like his own glorious body. Christ can do this by his power, with which he is able to rule everything.

Your New Life

3 You were raised from death with Christ. So live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. ² Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth. ³ Your old self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God.