2 Corinthians Chapter 6
Showing all 18 verses for 2 Corinthians Chapter 6.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. "
"As people working alongside God, we urge you not to let his grace go to waste in your lives."
Don't just receive good things - kindness, forgiveness, a second chance - and let them sit unused. Let what's been given to you actually change how you live; don't waste it.
"(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) "
"God says, 'I heard you at the right time, and helped you on the day of rescue.' Listen, now is that right time; now is the day of rescue."
Don't wait for a more convenient moment to make the change you know you need to make. Now, today, is always a valid time to start - don't keep pushing it off.
"Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: "
"We try not to put any stumbling block in anyone's way, so that our work can't be discredited."
Be mindful that how you live can either open or close doors for the good you're trying to do. It isn't about being perfect - it's about not needlessly getting in your own way, or discrediting something worth protecting.
"But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, "
"Instead, in everything, we prove ourselves as genuine servants of God - through great patience, hardships, hard pressures, difficult situations,"
What you've actually gone through for something you believe in says more about your sincerity than any title or self-description ever could. Let your track record, not your résumé, speak for you.
"In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; "
"through beatings, imprisonments, riots, hard labour, sleepless nights, going without food."
Don't be embarrassed by the visible scars of a life spent trying to do good. What you've physically and practically sacrificed for something worthwhile is not weakness - it's evidence of real commitment.
"By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, "
"through integrity, understanding, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit's presence, and sincere love,"
Hardship on its own doesn't prove anything - what matters is the character it produces in you. Let difficulty refine you towards patience, kindness and honesty, not towards bitterness or hardness.
"By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, "
"through speaking the truth, through God's power, through the weapons of righteousness held in both hands."
Treat honesty and integrity as tools you actively use, not just qualities you happen to have. They can defend you when you're under pressure and open doors when you need to act.
"By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; "
"through honour and disgrace, being spoken well of and spoken evil of - treated as frauds, yet being genuinely truthful;"
You'll be misjudged sometimes no matter how honest you are - that's not proof you did something wrong. Let your own integrity, not other people's shifting opinions of you, be your compass.
"As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; "
"as unknown, yet well known; as dying, yet look - we're alive; disciplined, but not killed off;"
Being overlooked or underestimated by the world doesn't determine your actual significance. Keep going even when your worth isn't publicly recognised - it doesn't make it any less real.
"As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. "
"sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many people rich; owning nothing, yet possessing everything."
You can be grieving and still carry genuine joy underneath it - the two aren't opposites. And what you own materially is never the real measure of how rich your life actually is.
"O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. "
"Corinthians, we've spoken to you honestly and openly - our heart is wide open to you."
Sometimes the bravest thing you can say to someone you've grown distant from is simply, 'I haven't closed off to you.' Naming your own openness plainly can be the first step back towards closeness.
"Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. "
"You're not being held back by any lack of love from us - it's your own affections that are holding back."
You can stay open-hearted towards someone while still being honest about where the real distance in a relationship is coming from. Love doesn't require pretending you're at fault for something you're not.
"Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged. "
"So in fair exchange (I'm speaking to you as my own children) - open up your hearts too."
It's fair to ask someone to meet your openness with their own, especially in a relationship built on real care. Asking honestly for closeness isn't weakness - it's often what makes reconciliation possible.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? "
"Don't team up in a binding way with people who don't share your core values - what do goodness and wrongdoing really have in common? What do light and darkness actually share?"
Choose your closest commitments carefully - who you bind your life to really does shape which direction you end up going. It's not about avoiding people who are different from you, but about not yoking your deepest direction to someone pulling the opposite way.
"And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? "
"What harmony exists between Christ and evil forces? What do a believer and someone who rejects that faith really have in common?"
Be honest with yourself about when a difference is superficial and when it's fundamental. Not every difference matters, but some genuinely pull you in opposite directions, and it's worth knowing which is which before you commit deeply.
"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. "
"And what agreement can there be between God's temple and idols? Because you are the temple of the living God - as God said, 'I will live among them and walk among them, I will be their God and they will be my people.'"
Treat what's most valuable in you - your integrity, your convictions - as sacred space worth protecting, not something to casually dilute or share with whatever competes against it.
"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, "
"So come out from among them and be set apart, says the Lord, don't touch what's unclean, and I will welcome you."
Sometimes love and integrity require a clean break from an influence that's pulling you away from who you actually want to be. That's not rejection of people; it's protection of what matters most in you.
"And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. "
"And I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
Boundaries that protect your integrity aren't about loss - they clear space for a deeper, truer belonging. I don't just ask you to walk away from what harms you; I offer real family in its place.