Bible verses about "acceptance" | AUV

¹² So, as God’s elect [i.e., His people], holy and dearly loved [by Him], clothe yourselves with a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Tolerate one another’s [weaknesses] and forgive each other if anyone [of you] has a complaint against someone else. You should forgive people just as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And beyond all these things, clothe yourselves with love, which binds these things together in complete [unity].

⁸ But if anyone does not provide for [the needs of] his own [relatives], and especially for his own [immediate] family, he has denied the faith [i.e., the fundamental beliefs of Christianity], and is worse than an unbeliever.

²⁵ “So I tell you, do not worry about [the material things of] your life, [such as] what you will eat or what you will drink, or about what you will wear on your body. There are more important things in life than food, and more important things about your body than the clothing you wear. ²⁶ Look at the birds in the sky; they do not plant seeds or harvest [a crop] or store [things] in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them [adequately]. Are you not a lot more valuable than they are? ²⁷ And which one of you can worry yourself into living a single day longer? ²⁸ And why are you worrying about clothing? Consider how [wild] lilies grow in a field; they do not work or weave, ²⁹ yet I tell you that even Solomon, clothed in his very finest royal robes, was never dressed [as luxuriously] as one of these flowers. ³⁰ So, if God so [beautifully] dresses the grass in a field, which is [green] today, and [then] tomorrow [dries up and] is thrown in the oven [i.e., as fuel], will He not do even more in providing your clothing, you people with such little faith? ³¹ Therefore, do not worry by asking, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ ³² For these are the things that the [unconverted] Gentiles keep trying to get. But your heavenly Father [already] knows you need these things.

³⁷ Every person [Note: The Greek says, “every thing”] whom the Father gives me will [eventually] come to me [i.e., for salvation]; and I will never turn away that person who comes to me.

¹ “Do not pass [condemning] judgment [on other people] so that you do not receive such judgment [on yourselves]. ² For the way you judge [other people] is the way you [yourselves] will be judged. And the standard you use [for dealing] with others is the standard that they [and God] will use on you. ³ And why do you look for the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye but ignore the board in your own eye? ⁴ Or, how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take that speck of sawdust out of your eye,’ while there is a board in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, take the board out of your own eye first; and then you will be able to see clearly enough to take the speck of sawdust out of your brother’s eye. ⁶ “Do not offer sacred things to dogs, and do not throw your pearls in front of [wild] pigs [i.e., to those who will not appreciate them], because they will probably trample on them with their feet and then turn around and attack you. ⁷ “Ask [God for something] and it will be given to you; look [to God for something] and you will find it; knock [on the door of opportunity] and it will be opened up to you. ⁸ For every person who asks will [certainly] receive; and the one who looks will [certainly] find; and to the person who knocks, the door will [certainly] be opened. ⁹ Or, what person among you would give his son a stone if he asked you for a piece of bread? ¹⁰ Or who would give him a snake if he asked you for a fish? ¹¹ If then you know how to give good gifts to your children, even though you are sinful [human beings], how much more [likely] is it that your Father in heaven will give good things to those who ask Him? ¹² Therefore, everything that you would like people to do to you, do [these things] to them also. For this is [what is required by] the law of Moses and the prophets. ¹³ “You should enter [God’s kingdom] by means of the narrow door, for the wide door and the broad road are the ones that lead to [spiritual and physical] destruction. And many people will enter [that wide door]. ¹⁴ But the door that is narrow and the road that is restricted lead to [spiritual] life and [only] a few people will find them. ¹⁵ “Look out for deceiving prophets, who approach you wearing sheep’s clothing, but who are [actually] starving wolves in their hearts. ¹⁶ You can recognize them by their fruit [i.e., by what their lives produce]. Do people harvest grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistle weeds? ¹⁷ In a similar way, every healthy tree produces wholesome fruit; but a diseased tree produces [only] bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot produce bad fruit and neither can a diseased tree produce wholesome fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not produce wholesome fruit should be chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore, you will recognize them [i.e., prophets] by their fruit [i.e., by what their lives produce]. ²¹ “Not every person who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but [only] that person who does what my Father in heaven requires. ²² Many persons will say to me on the [judgment] day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by [the authority of] your name, and drive out evil spirits and perform many powerful [supernatural] deeds by your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never acknowledged you [as my people]; go away from me, you people who have done sinful things.’ ²⁴ “Every person therefore, who hears these words of mine and obeys them will be like the sensible person who built his house on a [foundation of] rock. ²⁵ The [heavy] rains came down and the flood waters rose and the winds blew and beat down on that house, but it did not collapse, for it was [built] on a foundation of rock. ²⁶ And every person who hears these words of mine but does not obey them will be like the foolish person who built his house on [a foundation of] sand. ²⁷ And the [heavy] rains came down and the flood waters rose and the winds blew and struck against that house [until] it collapsed with a terrible crash.” ²⁸ And so it happened when Jesus had finished [speaking] these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ for he taught like a person who had authority, instead of like their experts in the law of Moses.

¹⁰ If anyone comes to you [i.e., to your meetings] who does not bring this teaching [about Christ], you should not welcome him into your home or give him [any] greetings [i.e., suggesting approval or endorsement]. ¹¹ For the person who greets him [with approval] participates in his evil deeds [i.e., in his false teaching].

¹ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge [both] those still alive and those who have already died, and in view of His appearing [i.e., at His second coming] and His kingdom [i.e., when it is revealed in its eternal splendor], I solemnly urge you: ² Preach the [Gospel] message; be prepared [to do it both] when it is convenient and when it is inconvenient; reprove [i.e., convince people of their wrongdoing], rebuke [i.e., convict people of their sin], and exhort [i.e., urge people to act], with great patience and teaching.

⁷ So, welcome one another, just as Christ has welcomed you [or, “us”], as a way of honoring God.

¹¹ But I wrote to you not to associate with anyone claiming to be a [Christian] brother who is [guilty of being] sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or who speaks abusively, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat [a social meal] with such a person.