- 1 Timothy
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4
Some people teach lies
1 The Holy Spirit tells us clearly about things that will happen in the last days of this world. He says that some people will stop believing the true word from God. Instead, they will believe lies that come from bad spirits. Those bad spirits will trick them, and they will believe those lies. 2 And some of them will teach those lies to other people. They tell everybody they are good people, but really, they are bad. And they never feel bad about the bad things they do. 3-5 They tell people, “You can’t marry anyone. It is wrong.” And they tell people, “There are some sorts of food you can’t eat. You just have to leave it alone.” Those things that they say are not true. God tells us in his book that he made everything good. That means that he made all food good. We believe that word and know it is true, so we don’t have to leave any sort of food alone. Instead, we can just thank him for it and eat it. God’s word says that all food is good, so we pray to him and thank him for it, and then it is all right for us to eat it.
You have to be a good worker for Jesus
6 So teach those things to all the Christians. If you do that, you will be a good worker for Jesus Christ. You believe God’s word and follow the things it says, and when you do that, you feed your spirit with God’s word to make yourself strong. 7 Don’t take any notice of those silly stories that are not true, stories that lie about God. But instead, train yourself to respect God and take notice of him. 8-9 You sometimes hear people say, “If we train our bodies, we will get fit so that we can play sport and live better lives, and that is good for us now. But if we train our spirits to respect God and take notice of him, we will not only live better lives now, but we will live a lot better in the life that will come after we die, just like God promised us. That is a lot better for us.” Well, those words are true, and everybody has to follow that message. 10 We know it is true, so we work hard for God, and we are sure that he will give us a better life after we die. We are sure about God. He is alive, and he wants to save everybody, and he really will save all the people that believe in him.
11 So teach everybody these things, and tell them that they have to follow these words. 12 If some people think you are too young to be their leader, don’t worry. You live the right way yourself, and that will show them that you are a good leader. Then they will see the way a Christian has to live. So talk in the right way, and talk about the right things. And do everything the right way. And love people. And believe strongly in Jesus. And always do what is right. Then everyone will see that you live right, and they will not think you are too young. 13 So keep going until I get there. Make sure you read God’s book in your meetings. Teach them that true message, and tell them how to do what it says.
14 Always remember that God gave you special power at the time when the church leaders laid their hands on you and prayed for you. The Holy Spirit gave them a special word about you at that time. So keep on using the power that God gave you.
15 Think hard about these things that I am telling you, and always do them, so that everybody will see that you are getting better all the time. 16 Be careful to live properly, and to teach the right things. You have to keep on doing those things, so that God will save both you and the people that listen to you.

- 1 Timothy
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- 4
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