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Weakness, Wealth, Weariness, Widows, Wisdom, Witnesses to Christ, Wives, Women, Women's beauty, Worldliness, Worry, Worship, Youth |
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WEAKNESS
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 - (God's reply to Paul when he asked for his disease, his "thorn in the flesh" to be taken away ....) "My grace is enough for you: for where there is weakness, my power is shown the more completely." Therefore, I (Paul) have cheerfully made up my mind to be proud of my weaknesses, because they mean a deeper experience of the power of Christ. I can even enjoy weaknesses, suffering, privations, persecutions and difficulties for Christ's sake. For my very weakness makes me strong in him.
WEALTH
1 Timothy 6:9-10 - ... men who set their hearts on being wealthy expose themselves to temptation. They fall into one of the world's traps, and lay themselves open to all sorts of silly and wicked desires, which are quite capable of utterly ruining and destroying their souls. For loving money leads to all kinds of evil, and some men in the struggle to be rich have lost their faith and caused themselves untold agonies of mind.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 - Tell those who are rich in this present world not to be contemptuous of others, and not to rest the weight of their confidence on the transitory power of wealth but on the living God, who generously gives us everything for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in kindly actions, to be ready to give to others and to sympathise with those in distress. Their security should be invested in the life to come so that they may be sure of holding a share in the life which is permanent.
James 1:10-11 - The rich may be glad that God has shown him his spiritual poverty. For the rich man, as such, will wither away as surely as summer flowers. One day the sunrise brings a scorching wind; the grass withers at once and so do all the flowers - all that lovely sight is destroyed. Just as surely will the rich man and all his extravagant ways fall into the blight of decay.
James 5:1-6 - ... now, you plutocrats (tycoons), is the time for you to weep and moan because of the miseries in store for you!! Your richest goods are ruined, your hoard of clothes is moth-eaten, your gold and silver are tarnished. Yes, their very tarnish will be the evidence of your wicked hoarding and you will shrink from them as if they were red-hot. You have made a fine pile in these last days, haven't you? But look, here is the pay of the reaper you hired and whom you cheated, and it is shouting against you! And the cries of the other labourers you swindled are heard by the Lord of Hosts himself. Yes, you have had a magnificent time on this earth, and have indulged yourselves to the full. You have picked out just what you wanted like soldiers looting after battle. You have condemned and ruined innocent men in your career, and they have been powerless to stop you.
WEARINESS
Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to me, all of you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest! Put on my yoke and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
WIDOWS
1 Timothy 5:3-16 - You should treat with great consideration widows who are really alone in the world. But remember that if a widow has children or grandchildren it is primarily their duty to show the genuineness of their religion in their own homes by repaying their parents for what has been done for them, and God readily accepts such service.
But the widow who is really alone and desolate can only hope in God, and she will pray to him day and night. The widow who plunges into all the pleasure that the world can give her is killing her own soul. You should therefore make the following rules for the widows to avoid abuses:
1. You should make it clear that for a man to refuse to look after his own relations, especially those actually living in his house, is a denial of the faith he professes. He is far worse than a man who makes no profession.
2. Widows for your church list should be at least sixty years of age, should have had only one husband and have a well-founded reputation for having lived a good life. Some such questions as these should be asked:- has she brought up her children well, has she been hospitable to strangers, has she been willing to serve fellow-Christians in menial ways, has she relieved those in distress, has she, in a word conscientiously done all the good she can?
3. Don't put the younger widows on your list. My experience is that when their natural desires grow stronger than their spiritual devotion to Christ they want to marry again, thus proving themselves unfaithful to their first loyalty. Moreover, they get into habits of slackness by being so much in and out of other people's houses. In fact they easily become worse than lazy, and degenerate into gossips and busybodies with dangerous tongues.
4. My advice is that younger widows should, normally, marry again, bear children and run their own households. They should certainly not be the means of lowering the reputation of the church, although some, alas, have already played into the enemy's hands.
5. As a general rule is should be taken for granted that any Christian, man or woman, who has a widow in the family should do everything possible for her, and not allow her to become the church's responsibility. The church will then be free to look after those widows who are alone in the world.
WISDOM
Matthew 7:24-27 - "Everyone ... who hears these words of mine (Jesus referring to the Sermon on the Mount) and puts them into practice is like a sensible man who builds his house on the rock. Down came the rain and up came the floods, while the winds blew and roared upon that house - and it did not fall because its foundations were on the rock. "And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not follow them can be compared with a foolish man who built his house on sand. Down came the rain and up came the floods, while the winds blew and battered that house till it collapsed, and fell with a great crash."
Matthew 10:16 - (As Jesus prepares to send out the twelve apostles to preach and heal ....) "Here I am sending you out like sheep with wolves all round you; so be as wise as serpents and yet as harmless as doves."
1 Corinthians 1:19-25 - It is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent'. For consider, what have the philosopher, the writer and the critic of this world to show for all their wisdom? Has not God made the wisdom of this world look foolish? For it was after the world in its wisdom failed to know God, that he in his wisdom chose to save all who would believe by the "simple-mindedness" of the Gospel message. For the Jews ask for miraculous proofs and the Greeks an intellectual panacea, but all we preach is Christ crucified - a stumbling block to the Jews and sheer nonsense to the Gentiles, but for those who are called, whether Jews or Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. And this is really only natural, for God's foolishness" is wiser than men, and his "weakness" is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 2:6-8 - We do .... speak "wisdom" among those who are spiritually mature, but it is not what is called wisdom by this world, nor by the powers-that-be, who soon will be only the powers that have been. The wisdom we speak of is that mysterious secret wisdom of God which he planned before the creation for our glory today. None of the powers of this world have known this wisdom - if they had they would never have crucified (Jesus) the Lord of glory!
1 Timothy 6:20-21a - O Timothy, guard most carefully your divine commission. Avoid the Godless mixture of contradictory notions which is falsely known as "knowledge" - some have followed it and lost their faith.
James 3:17-18 - The wisdom that comes from God is first utterly pure, then peace-loving, gentle, approachable, full of tolerant thoughts and kindly actions, with no breath of favouritism or hint of hypocrisy. And the wise are peace-makers who go on quietly sowing for a harvest of righteousness - in other people and in themselves.
WITNESSES TO CHRIST
Matthew 5:13-16 - "You are the earth’s salt. But if the salt should become tasteless, what can make it salt again? It is completely useless and can only be thrown out of doors and stamped under foot."
"You are the world's light - it is impossible to hide a town built on the top of a hill. Men do not light a lamp and put it under a bucket. They put it on a lamp-stand and it gives light for everybody in the house. "Let your light shine like that in the sight of men. Let them see the good things you do and praise your Father in Heaven."
Romans 12:17b - Don't say "it doesn't matter what people think", but see that your public behaviour is above criticism.
1 Corinthians 10:31 - .... whatever you do, eating or drinking or anything else, everything should be done to bring glory to God.
2 Corinthians 2:15-16a - We Christians have the unmistakable "scent" of Christ, discernible alike to those who are being saved and to those who are heading for death. To the latter it seems like the very smell of doom, to the former it has the fresh fragrance of life itself.
2 Corinthians 9:12-15 - ... your giving (the church in Corinth to the church in Jerusalem) does not end in meeting the wants of your fellow-Christians. It also results in an overflowing tide of thanksgiving to God. Moreover, your very giving proves the reality of your faith, and that means that men thank God that you practise the Gospel that you profess to believe in, as well for the actual gifts you make to them and to others. And yet further, men will pray for you and feel drawn to you because you have obviously received a generous measure of the grace of God. Thank God, then, for his indescribable generosity to you!
Witnesses to Christ - continued
Colossians 1:10a - We .... pray that your outward lives, which men see, may bring credit to your master's name (Jesus), and that you may bring joy to his heart by bearing genuine Christian fruit ....
Colossians 4:5-6 - Be wise in your behaviour towards non-Christians, and make the best possible use of your time. Speak pleasantly to them, but never sentimentally, and learn to give a proper answer to every questioner.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 - Be busy with your own affairs and do your work yourselves. The result will be a reputation for honesty in the world outside and an honourable independence.
Titus 2:7b-8 - In all your teaching (Titus) show the strictest regard for truth, and show that you appreciate the seriousness of the matters you are dealing with. Your speech should be unaffected and logical, so that your opponent may feel ashamed at finding nothing in which to pick holes.
1 Peter 2:12 - Your conduct among the surrounding peoples in your different countries should always be good and right, so that although they may in the usual way slander you as evil-doers yet when disasters come, they may glorify God when they see how well you conduct yourselves.
1 Peter 3:13-17 - .... who in the ordinary way is likely to injure you for being enthusiastic for good? And if it should happen that you suffer "for righteousness' sake", that is a privilege. 'And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled'; simply concentrate on being completely devoted to Christ in your hearts. Be ready at any time to give a quiet and reverent answer to any man who wants a reason for the hope that you have within you. Make sure that your conscience is perfectly clear, so that if men should speak slanderously of you as rogues they may come to feel ashamed of themselves for libelling your good Christian behaviour. If it is the will of God that you should suffer it is really better to suffer unjustly than because you have deserved it.
WIVES
1 Corinthians 11:3 - I (Paul) want you to know that Christ is the head of every individual man, just as a man is the "head" of the woman and God is the head of Christ.
Ephesians 5:22-24,33b - ... wives must learn to adapt yourselves to your husbands, as you submit yourselves to the Lord, for the husband is the "head" of the wife in the same way that Christ is head of the Church and saviour of the body. The willing subjection of the Church to Christ should be reproduced in the submission of wives to their husbands. .... (Verse 33b) .... let the wife reverence her husband.
Colossians 3:18 - Wives, adapt yourselves to your husbands, that your marriage may be a Christian unity.
1 Peter 3:1-6 - In the same spirit (as Christ) you married women should adapt yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they do not obey the Word of God they may be won to God without any word being spoken, simply by seeing the pure and reverent behaviour of you, their wives. Your beauty should not be dependent on an elaborate coiffure, or on the wearing of jewellery or fine clothes, but on the inner personality - the unfading loveliness of a calm and gentle spirit, a thing very precious in the eyes of God. This was the secret of the beauty of the holy women of ancient times who trusted in God and were submissive to their husbands. Sara (or Sarah - Genesis chapters12-23), you will remember, obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. And you have become, as it were, her true descendants today as long as you too live good lives and do not give way to hysterical fears.
WOMEN
Matthew 26:7-13 - ... a woman came to him (Jesus) with an alabaster flask of most expensive perfume, and poured it on his head as he was at table. The disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "What is the point of such wicked waste? Couldn't this perfume have been sold for a lot of money which could be given to the poor?" Jesus knew what they were saying and spoke to them, "Why must you make this woman feel uncomfortable? She has done a beautiful thing for me. You have the poor with you always, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she was preparing it for burial. I assure you that wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the whole world, this deed of hers will also be recounted, as her memorial to me."
Matthew 28:9-10 - ... quite suddenly (as Mary from Magdala and the other Mary ran from the empty tomb), Jesus stood before them in their path, and said, "Peace be with you!" And they went forward to meet him and, clasping his feet, worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go now and tell my brothers to go into Galilee and they shall see me there."
Mark 15:40-41 - There were some women there (at the crucifixion) looking on from a distance, among them Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, and Salome. These were the women who used to follow Jesus as he went about in Galilee and look after him. And there were many other women there who had come up to Jerusalem with them.
Women - continued
Luke 1:45 - (Elisabeth the mother of the future John the Baptist, speaking to Mary carrying the unborn Jesus ...) "Oh, how happy is the woman who believes in God, for he does make his promises to her come true."
Luke 8:1b-3 - ..... Jesus went through every town and village preaching and telling the people the good news of the kingdom of God. He was accompanied by the twelve (apostles) and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and illnesses - Mary, known as "the woman from Magdala" (who had once been possessed by seven evil spirits), Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's agent, Susanna, and many others who used to look after his comfort from their own resources.
John 4:7-9,27 - ..... a Samaritan woman arrived to draw some water. "Please give me a drink," Jesus said to her, for his disciples had gone away to the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans). .... (Verse 27 ....) At this point his disciples arrived, and were surprised to find him talking to a woman, but none of them asked, "What do you want?" or "What are you talking to her about?"
John 8:9b-11 - Jesus was left alone, with the woman (caught in adultery) still standing where they had put her. So he stood up and said to her, "Where are they all (her male accusers) - did no one condemn you?" And she said, "No one, sir." "Neither do I condemn you," said Jesus to her. "Go home and do not sin again."
Romans 16:1-2 - I want this letter to introduce to you Phoebe, our sister, a deaconess of the Church at Cenchrea. Please give her a Christian welcome, and any assistance with her work that she may need. She has herself been of great assistance to many, not excluding myself.
Women - continued
Romans 16:3-5a,6-7,12-13,15b - (Verse 3) .... Shake hands for me with Priscilla and Aquila. They have not only worked with me for Christ, but they have faced death for my sake, Not only I, but all the Gentile churches, owe them a great debt. Give my love to the little church that meets in their house.
(Verse 6) .... of course greet Mary who has worked so hard for you. A handshake too for Andronicus and Junias (the name Junia or Junias may refer to a woman) my kinsmen (or relatives) and fellow-prisoners; they are outstanding men (people) among the messengers and were Christians before I was.
(Verse 12 ....) Remember me to Tryphena and Tryphosa (both possibly martyred), who work so hard for the Lord, and to my dear Persis (another woman) who has also done great work for him.
Shake the hand of Rufus for me - that splendid Christian, and greet his mother, who has been a mother to me too. Greetings to .... (Verse 15b. ...) Julia, Nereus and his sister ...
1 Corinthians 11:3-16 - (Paul, talking about modesty in worship) .... I want you to know that Christ is the head of every individual man, just as a man it the "head" of the woman and God is the head of Christ. Thus it follows that if a man prays or preaches with his head covered, he is, symbolically, dishonouring him who is his real head. But in the case of a woman, if she prays or preaches (contrast with 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 following) with her head uncovered it is just as much a disgrace as if she had it closely shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head she might just as well have her hair cropped. And if to be cropped or closely shaven is a sign of disgrace to women, then that is all the more reason for her to cover the head. A man ought not to cover his head, for he represents the very person and glory of God, while the woman reflects the person and glory of the man. For man does not exist because woman exists, but vice versa. Man was not created originally for the sake of woman, but woman was created for the sake of man. For this reason a woman ought to bear on her head an outward sign of man's authority for all the angels to see.
Women - continued
Of course, in the sight of God neither "man" nor "woman" has any separate existence. For if woman was made originally for man, no man is now born except by a woman, and both man and woman, like everything else, owe their existence to God. But use your own judgement, do you think it right and proper for a woman to pray to God bare-headed? Isn't there a natural principle here, that makes us feel that long hair is disgraceful to a man, but of glorious beauty to a woman? We feel this because the long hair is the cover provided by nature for the woman's head. But if anyone wants to be argumentative about it, I can only say that we and the churches of God generally hold this ruling on the matter.
1 Corinthians 14:34-35 - Let women be silent in church; they are not to be allowed to speak. They must submit to this regulation, as the Law itself instructs. If they have questions to ask they must ask their husbands at home, for there is something indecorous about a woman's speaking in church. (... But see verse 5 in 1 Corinthians 11:5-16 above).
Galatians 3:27-28 - All of you who were baptised "into" Christ have put on the family likeness of Christ. Gone is the distinction between ............. male and female - you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:2-3 - Euodius and Syntache (women workers alongside Paul in Philippi), I beg you by name to make up your differences as Christians should! And, my true fellow-worker, I ask you to help these women. They both worked hard with me for the Gospel, as did Clement and all my other fellow-workers whose names are in the book of life.
1 Timothy 2:9-15 - The women (in church) should be dressed quietly, and their demeanour should be modest and serious. The adornment of a Christian woman is not a matter of an elaborate coiffure, expensive clothes or valuable jewellery, but the living of a good life. A woman should learn quietly and humbly. Personally, I don't allow women to teach (but see above), nor do I ever put them into positions of authority over men (but see Paul's reference to Phoebe, a deaconess in his letter to the Romans) - I believe their role is to be receptive. (My reasons are that man was created before woman. Further, it was Eve and not Adam who was first deceived and fell into sin. Nevertheless I believe that women will come safely through child-birth if they maintain a life of faith, love, holiness and gravity).
WOMEN'S BEAUTY
1 Timothy 2:9b-10 - The adornment of a Christian woman is not a matter of an elaborate coiffure, expensive clothes or valuable jewellery, but the living of a good life.
1 Peter 3:3-5a - Your beauty should not be dependent on an elaborate coiffure, or on the wearing of jewellery or fine clothes, but on the inner personality - the unfading loveliness of a calm and gentle spirit, a thing very precious in the eyes of God. This was the secret of the beauty of the holy women of ancient times who trusted in God ....
WORLDLINESS
Matthew 6:31-32a - "... don't worry and don't keep saying, 'What shall we eat, what shall we drink or what shall we wear? That is what pagans are always looking for ..."
Matthew 16:24b-26 - "If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps he must give up all right to himself, take up his cross and follow me. For the man who wants to save his life will lose it; but the man who loses his life for my sake will find it. For what good is it for a man to gain the whole world at the price of his own soul? What could a man offer to buy back his soul once he had lost it?
Luke 14:11 - "... everyone who makes himself important will become insignificant, while the man who makes himself insignificant will find himself important."
John 12:25 - "The man who loves his own life will destroy it, and the man who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. ."
Romans 12:2 - Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
1 Corinthians 1:18 - The preaching of (Jesus dying on) the cross is, I know, nonsense to those who are involved in this dying world, but to us who are being saved from that death it is nothing less than the power of God.
Galatians 6:14 - ... God forbid that I (Paul) should boast about anything or anybody except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, which means that the world is a dead thing to me and I am a dead man to the world.
Philippians 2:21 - All the others seem to be wrapped up in their own affairs and do not really care for the business of Jesus Christ (.... writes Paul in prison in Rome).
Philippians 3:20-21 - ... we are citizens of Heaven; our outlook goes beyond this world to the hopeful expectation of the saviour who will come from Heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will re-make these wretched bodies of ours to resemble his own glorious body, by that power of his which makes him the master of everything that is.
Worldliness - continued
Colossians 3:1-3,5a - If you are .... "risen" with Christ, reach out for the highest gifts of Heaven, where your master reigns in power. Give your heart to the heavenly things, not to the passing things of earth. For, as far as this world is concerned, you are already dead, and your true life is a hidden one in Christ. .... (Verse 5a ....) In so far, then, as you have to live upon this earth, consider yourselves dead to worldly contacts ....
James 3:13-16 - Are there some wise and understanding men among you? Then your lives will be an example of the humility that is born of true wisdom. But if your heart is full of rivalry and bitter jealousy, then do not boast of your wisdom - don't deny the truth that you must recognise in your inmost heart. You may acquire a certain superficial wisdom, but it does not come from God - it comes from this world, from your own lower nature, even from the devil. For wherever you find jealousy and rivalry you also find disharmony and all other kinds of evil.
James 4:4-6 - You are like unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never realising that to be the world's lover means becoming the enemy of God! Anyone who deliberately chooses to love the world is thereby making himself God's enemy. Do you think what the scriptures have to say about this is a mere formality? Or do you imagine that this spirit of passionate jealousy is the Spirit he has caused to live in us? No, he gives us grace potent enough to meet this and every other evil spirit, if we are humble enough to receive it. That is why he says: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'
1 Peter 2:11 - I (Paul) beg you, as those whom I love, to live in this world as strangers and "temporary residents", to keep clear of the desires of your lower natures, for they are always at war with your souls.
1 John 2:15-17 - Never give your hearts to this world or to any of the things in it. A man cannot love (God) the Father and love the world at the same time. For the whole world-system, based as it is on men's primitive desires, their greedy ambitions and the glamour of all that they think splendid, is not derived from the Father at all, but from the world itself. The world and all its passionate desires will one day disappear. But the man who is following God's will is part of the permanent and cannot die.
WORRY
Matthew 6:25b,27 - " .... don't worry about living - wondering what you are going to eat or drink, or what you are going to wear. Surely life is more important than food, and the body more important than the clothes you wear. .... (Verse 27 ....) Can any of you, however much he worries, make himself an inch taller (or add a single hour to his life)?
Philippians 4:6-7 - Don't worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 5:6-7 - ... humble yourselves under God's strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up. You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.
WORSHIP
Matthew 18:19-20 - (On just how many people are needed to become a "church" in worship) ".... I tell you once more that if two of you on earth agree in asking for anything it will be granted to you by my Heavenly Father. For wherever two or three people come together in my name, I am there, right among you!"
Romans 14:5-6 - (On the matter of religious and other practices) .... one man thinks some days of more importance than others. Another man considers them all alike. Let every one be definite in his own convictions. If a man specially observes one particular day, he does to "to God". The man who eats, eats "to God", for he thanks God for the food. The man who fasts also does it "to God", for he thanks God for the benefits of fasting.
1 Corinthians 11:4-5,7 - (On the etiquette of worship) .... if a man prays or preaches with his head covered, he is, symbolically, dishonouring him (Christ) who is his real head. But in the case of a woman, if she prays or preaches with her head uncovered it is just as much a disgrace as if she had it closely shaved. (Verse 7 ....) A man ought not to cover his head, for he represents the very person and glory of God, while the woman reflects the person and glory of the man.
- Probably a reflection of the relationship between men and women in public in New Testament times.
1 Corinthians 14:26b - .... whenever you meet (in worship) be ready to contribute a psalm, a piece of teaching, a spiritual truth, or a "tongue" with an interpreter. Everything should be done to make your church strong in the faith.
1 Corinthians 14:39-40 - ..... set you heart on preaching the word of God, while not forbidding the use of "tongues". Let everything be done decently and in order.
Ephesians 5:19-20a - (In the daily Christian life ....) Express your joy in singing among yourselves psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making music in your hearts for the ears of God! Thank God at all times for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 3:16b - (Again, in daily life ....) Teach and help one another along the right road with your psalms and hymns and Christian songs, singing God's praises with joyful hearts.
1 Timothy 2:1-2,8 - (Some of Paul's instructions on worship ....) Here then is my charge: First, supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings should be made on behalf of all men: for kings and rulers in positions of responsibility, so that our common life may be lived in peace and quiet, with a proper sense of God and of our responsibility to him for what we do with our lives. .... (Verse 8. ...) I want the men to pray in all the churches with sincerity, without resentment or doubt in their minds.
YOUTH
1 Timothy 4:12 - (Paul to Timothy, the young minister ....) Don't let people look down on you because you are young; see that they look up to you because you are an example to them in your speech and behaviour, in your love and faith and sincerity.
Titus 2:6-7a - The young men ... you should urge to take life seriously, letting your own life (Titus as a minister) stand as a pattern of good living.
1 Peter 5:5 - You younger members must ... submit to the elders. Indeed all of you should defer to one another and wear (or clothe yourself with) the "overall" of humility in serving each other. 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'.
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CHRISTIAN LIFE and WORSHIP