I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources God will give you mighty inner strength. I pray that God will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of his marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.

  May you experience his love, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. With his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.

  Lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each others faults because of your love. Always keep yourselves united, and bind yourselves together with peace.

  We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have been called to the same glorious future. We will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.

  Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, growing and becoming stronger every day. Under Gods direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly.

  Each of us has a gift and as each of us does our own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. We must no longer live as we did, for we were hopelessly confused. 

  Our closed minds were full of darkness; we were far away from the life of God because we had shut our minds and hardened our hearts against him. We no longer cared about right or wrong, and we had given ourselves over to immoral ways. Our lives were filled with all kinds of impurity and greed.

  Now we must throw off our old evil nature and our former way of life, which was rotten through and through, full of lust and deception.

  Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of our thoughts and attitudes. We must display a new nature because we are new people. We must put away all falsehood and "tell our neighbor the truth" because we belong to each other. We must not let anger gain control over us. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives the Dragon a mighty foothold.

  Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior.

  Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven us. For though our hearts were once full of darkness, now we can be filled with light. A light within us that produces only what is good and right and true.

  We must be careful how we live, not as fools but as those who are wise and make the most of every opportunity for doing good.