38 Bible Verses about ethics, incentives towards

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Wouldest thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from it; for he is the servant of God to thee for good. But if thou dost that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the servant of God, an avenger for wrath against him that doth evil.

I exhort therefore, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made for all men: For kings and all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour,read more.
Who willeth all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme, Or to governors, as sent by him, for the punishment of evil-doers, and the praise of them that do well.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Happy are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.

ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.

So likewise will my heavenly Father do to you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

For judgment without mercy shall be to him that shewed no mercy: mercy glorieth over judgment.

Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others.

But wo to you, Pharisees; for ye tythe mint and rue and all herbs; and pass by justice and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

They profess to know God, but by their works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and void of judgment as to every good work.

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

For he that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Know ye not, that the unjust shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate,

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive according to what he hath done in the body, whether good or evil.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

For ye were once darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord:

God forbid. How shall we who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

And that he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him who died for them, and rose again.

Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds, And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him:

Be ye therefore followers of God, as beloved children: And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savour.

I exhort you therefore, brethren, by the tender mercies of God, to present your bodies unto God, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, which is your reasonable service.

I speak not by way of command, but that by the diligence of others, I may prove the sincerity of your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

But to do good, and to distribute, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Therefore we are ambitious, whether present, or absent, to be well-pleasing to him.

Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.

For our exhortation is not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile. But as we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who trieth our hearts.

It remaineth then, brethren, that we beseech and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, that ye abound therein more and more.

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the mind, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspoted from the world.

Jesus answered and said to him, If any man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.

He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be to him a God, and he shall be to me a son.

That thou appear not unto men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But when thou makest an entertainment, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, the blind, And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; but thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.