Dedicated Service

12 Therefore ^(A)I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to ^(B)present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, ^[a]acceptable to God, which is your ^[b]spiritual service of worship. ² And do not ^(C)be conformed to ^(D)this ^[c]world, but be transformed by the ^(E)renewing of your mind, so that you may ^[d](F)prove what the will of God is, that which is good and ^[e]acceptable and perfect.

³ For through ^(G)the grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^(H)not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to ^(I)each a measure of faith. ⁴ For ^(J)just as we have many parts in one body and all ^[f]the body’s parts do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, ^(K)who are many, are ^(L)one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another. ⁶ However, since we have gifts that ^(M)differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if ^(N)prophecy, ^[g]in proportion to one’s faith; ⁷ if ^[h](O)service, in the act of serving; or the one who ^(P)teaches, in the act of teaching; ⁸ or the one who ^[i](Q)exhorts, in the work of ^[j]exhortation; the one who gives, with ^[k](R)generosity; ^(S)the one who ^[l]is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with ^(T)cheerfulness.

^9 [m](U)Love must be free of hypocrisy. ^(V)Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be ^(W)devoted to one another in brotherly love; ^[n]give preference to one another ^(X)in honor,

⁹ And this I pray, that ^(A)your love may overflow still more and more in ^(B)real knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may ^[a](C)discover the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and blameless for ^(D)the day of Christ; ¹¹ having been filled with the ^(E)fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.

¹⁴ For this reason I ^(A)bend my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom ^[a]every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to ^(B)the riches of His glory, to be ^(C)strengthened with power through His Spirit in ^(D)the inner ^[b]self, ¹⁷ so that ^(E)Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being ^(F)rooted and ^(G)grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with ^(H)all the ^[c]saints what is ^(I)the width and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know ^(J)the love of Christ which ^(K)surpasses knowledge, that you may be ^(L)filled to all the ^(M)fullness of God.

^20 (N)Now to Him who is ^(O)able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, ^(P)according to the power that works within us, ^21 (Q)to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ^[d]forever and ever. Amen.