4 Bible Verses about Earnestness

"You should try hard to enter [God's kingdom] by means of the narrow door, for I tell you, many people will try to enter it but will not be able to.

I am pushing onward toward the goal for the prize of the upward call [i.e., to heaven] from God in [fellowship with] Christ.

So, [whatever happens], live your daily lives in such a way as to be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or remain absent from you, I will hear about you, that you are standing firm in one spirit [i.e., united in purpose, and] contending with one mind for the faith of the Gospel [i.e., for the body of Christian teaching].

And everyone who [strenuously] competes in athletic events exercises self-control during training. Now they do this to receive a laurel wreath that withers, but we [do it to receive] a lasting crown.

This is the reason that I work hard and struggle also, using God's mighty power which is at work in me.

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Jesus replied, [Deut. 6:5] "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.'

For I could wish that I, personally, were cut off from Christ [and lost] for the sake of my brothers, who are my physical relatives,

So, be very watchful, and remember that for three years I never stopped warning every one of you [about such matters] both night and day with tears [in my eyes].

For I have often told you before, and am telling you again with tears in my eyes, that many people are living as the enemies of the cross of Christ [i.e., their lives oppose the purpose of Christ's death].