Doing Good Because of the Good News

¹But as for you, teach what agrees with a healthy understanding.

²Tell the older men to be restrained, worthy of respect, and self-controlled. Tell them to have genuine faith, love, and endurance.

³In the same way, teach the older women to live in a way that shows respect for God. They must not tell lies about others, and they must not become heavy drinkers. Instead, they must teach what is good.

⁴Then they can advise the younger women to love their husbands and children,

⁵to control themselves and be pure, and to take good care of their homes. The younger women must also be taught to be kind and follow the lead of their husbands. Then no one will be able to say bad things about God’s word.

⁶In the same way, encourage the young men to control themselves.

⁷Set an example for them in everything by doing what is good. When you teach, be honest and serious,

⁸and speak in a way that no one can criticize. Then those who oppose you will be embarrassed because they’ll have nothing bad to say about us.

⁹Teach slaves to do everything their masters tell them to do. Tell them to please their masters and not talk back to them.

¹⁰They must not steal from them, either. Instead, they should show that they can be trusted completely. By doing all these things, they’ll make the teaching about God our Savior very attractive.

¹¹The grace of God that offers salvation to all people has now appeared.

¹²It teaches us to say no to godless ways and wrong desires and to live self-controlled, proper, and godly lives in this world

¹³while we wait for Jesus Christ to appear in his glory. That is our blessed hope. Jesus is our great God and Savior.

¹⁴He gave himself for us to set us free from all wrongdoing and purify us, so that we can be his very own people and be eager to do what is good.

¹⁵These are the things you should teach. Encourage and correct people with full authority. Don’t let anyone despise you.