Bible Verses
Philippians 4:4-8 — Celebrate joyfully in the Lord, all the time. I’ll say it again: be filled with joy; be rejoicing. Let your kindness be known to all people. The Lord is always with us. Don’t worry about anything. Pray about everything. With a thankful heart,* offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then the peace of God, surpassing all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good, and deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. {* joy comes from thanksgiving with faith }
Romans 12:10, Philippians 2:14, Romans 12:15 — Love with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Do everything without grumbling or arguing. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Matthew 22:35-40, The Two Great Commandments — Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. {more}
1 Corinthians 13:2-5 — Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, does not boast, is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs.
Colossians 3:12-14 — Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with each other, and forgive whenever you have a complaint against someone else. You must forgive each other, just as the Lord has forgiven you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Galatians 5:22 & Philippians 1:11 — the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. Your lives will be filled [it's a what-noun & how-verb] with the fruit of righteousness [what] that [how] only Jesus Christ can produce, for [why] the glory and praise of God.
James 1:19-20 — Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness* that God desires. {more} {* being righteous = doing justice by doing things right, with right = the ways that God wants things to be }
James 1:5, 3:13,17-18 — If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let them show it by their good life, by doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. The wisdom from above is pure, peaceful, kind, open to reason, full of compassion and good fruits, impartial and sincere. When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest a crop of righteousness.
Romans 12:17-18 — If someone does you wrong, don’t try to pay them back by hurting them. Try to [want to, make it your goal to] do what is honorable in the sight of everyone. If it's possible, as much as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
1 Peter 3:15 — In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
Psalm 19:14 — May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
WHAT-and-HOW of Christian Virtues: above is mainly WHAT to do, and below (especially in red & purple underlined parts) includes HOW to do it, how to "let God transform you" so you can "bear fruit" in life, as a follower of Christ. { but... our WHAT-and-HOW are connected, because God's purpose for HOW is to help you do the WHAT's; and much of our HOW is the WHAT of intending-to-obey, of "accepting Christ Jesus as Lord" so we want to live "dedicated to His service" by doing WHAT He wants. }
WHAT and HOW – Philippians 4:4,6-7 & James 1:5 & Galatians 5:22 & Philippians 1:11 — Celebrate joyfully in the Lord, all the time. ... Don’t worry about anything. Pray about everything. With a thankful heart,* offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then the peace of God, surpassing all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. Your lives will be filled [it's a what-noun & how-verb] with the fruit of righteousness [what] that [how] only Jesus Christ can produce, for [why] the glory and praise of God.
WHAT – John 15:4 & Colossians 2:6-7 & John 15:7 — Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way, you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me. Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with Him. Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on Him, and become stronger in your faith, as you were taught. And be filled with thanksgiving.* If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. { If you are fully abiding in Christ, then your asking will be something that God wants for you, so He will be happy to do it. } {* joy comes from thanksgiving with faith} {Abide in Christ, through the Holy Spirit}
Romans 12:1-2 — In view of God’s mercy [in Romans 11:32-36], offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to approve the will of God — what is good and is pleasing to Him and is perfect.
Exodus 17:11 — As long as Moses held up his hands,* the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. {* to acknowledge the importance of God's theistic actions and ask Him for His blessing-and-actions}
1 Thessalonians 5:15-18 — Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. {* how is it possible to "pray without ceasing"? how can we do it? }
Philippians 1:8-11 — I feel affection for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Colossians 1:9-11-14 — We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will, with all the wisdom and understanding given by His Spirit. This will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases Him in every way, so your life will produce good works of every kind, and you will grow in your knowledge of God. We ask God to strengthen you by His glorious might with all the power you need to patiently endure everything with joy.
[[ soon, March 11, also prayers of Ephesians 1 and 3. ]]
Matthew 6:9-13 — Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored as holy. May your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Abide in Christ: Through the Holy Spirit [quoted from "Abide in Christ" by Andrew Murray]
The Holy Spirit ... comes to us from the heart of Christ, is the bearer of Christ's life, the revealer and communicator of Christ Himself within us. ..... He is the bond of fellowship between all believers: by Him we are one. Above all, He is the bond of fellowship between Christ and believers; He is the life-sap through which Vine and branch grow into real and living oneness: by Him we are one.
Believe that He is working, even when you cannot discern it. Believe that He will work mightily if you ask this from the Father. It is impossible to live the life of full abiding without being full of the Holy Spirit. Believe that the fullness of the Spirit is indeed your daily portion. .....
The Holy Spirit was given for this one purpose – that the glorious redemption and life in Christ might with divine power be conveyed and communicated to us. We have the Holy Spirit to make the living Christ, in all His saving power, and in the completeness of His victory over sin, ever present within us.
HOW – John 15:4 & Colossians 2:6-7 & John 15:7 — Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way, you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me. Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with Him. Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on Him, and become stronger in your faith, as you were taught. And be filled with thanksgiving.* If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. {* joy comes from thanksgiving with faith} {Abide in Christ, through the Holy Spirit}