so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.

Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel

if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

You learned the gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave – a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf –

So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.