1 I beg you, therefore, brothers, through these mercies God has shown you, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies as a living sacrifice, devoted and well-pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 Stop living in accordance with the customs of this world, but by the new ideals that mold your minds continue to transform yourselves, so as to find and follow God's will; that is, what is good, well-pleasing to Him, and perfect.
3 Now through the unmerited favor God has shown me I would say to every one of you not to estimate himself above his real value, but to make a sober rating of himself, in accordance with the degree of faith which God has apportioned to him.
4 For just as we have many parts united in our physical bodies, and the parts do not all have the same function,
5 so we, though many, are united in one body through union with Christ, and we are individually parts of one another.
6 As we have gifts that differ in accordance with the favor God has shown us, if it is that of preaching, let it be done in proportion to our faith;
7 or of practical service, in the field of service; or of a teacher, in the field of teaching;
8 or of one who encourages others, in the field of encouragement; or one who gives his money, with liberality; or one who leads others, with earnestness; or one who does deeds of charity, with cheerfulness.
9 Your love must be true. You must always turn in horror from what is wrong, but keep on holding to what is right.
10 In brotherly love be affectionate to one another, in personal honors put one another to the fore,
11 never slack in earnestness, always on fire with the Spirit, always serving the Lord,
12 ever happy in hope, always patient in suffering, ever persistent in prayer,
13 always supplying the needs of God's people, ever practicing hospitality.
14 Keep on blessing your persecutors; keep on blessing and stop cursing them.
15 Practice rejoicing with people who rejoice, and weeping with people who weep.
16 Keep on thinking in harmony with one another. Stop being high-minded but keep on associating with lowly people. Stop being conceited.
17 Stop returning evil for evil to anyone. Always see to it that your affairs are right in the sight of everybody.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with everybody.
19 Stop taking revenge on one another, beloved, but leave a place for God's anger, for the Scripture says, "Vengeance belongs to me; I will pay them back, says the Lord."
20 Do the opposite. If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for if you act in this way, you will heap burning coals upon his head!