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Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.
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And walk in love, as also Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
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But there must not be even a suggestion among you of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity or of greed, for these are improper for God’s holy people.
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Let there be no filthiness, no foolish talk, and no crude jokes-all of which are improper. Instead there should be thanksgiving.
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For you can be sure of this, that no sexually immoral, impure, or greedy person-that is, an idolater-has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
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Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the anger of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.
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Therefore, do not join in with them.
Children of Light
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For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
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for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth,
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and find out what is pleasing to the Lord.
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Do not associate with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
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For it is shameful even to mention the things they do in secret.
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But when anything is illuminated by the light, it becomes visible.
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For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, "Awake, you sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
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Look carefully how you live-not as unwise but as wise.
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Redeem the time because the days are evil.
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Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
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And do not get drunk with wine, for that leads to reckless behavior. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,
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speaking to each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,
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always giving thanks for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father,
Wives and Husbands
(Song of Solomon 1:1–17; 1 Peter 3:1–7)
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submitting yourselves to one another in reverence for Christ.
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Wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord.
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For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ also is the head of the church, and Christ himself is its savior.
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But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives must submit to their husbands in everything.
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Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
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Christ gave himself for the church so that he might make her holy, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
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so that he might present her to himself as glorious, without stain or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without fault.
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In the same way husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
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For no one ever hated his own body, but nourishes and treats it with care, just as Christ nourishes and treats the church with care,
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because we are members of his body.
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“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”
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This hidden truth is great-but I am speaking about Christ and the church.
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Nevertheless, each of you also must love his own wife as himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
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