For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings,

experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

For there are no pains in their death,
And their body is fat.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within.

The toil of a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to a city.

Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,

He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich,
And He adds no sorrow to it.

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

“If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my struggle I will wait
Until my change comes.

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,

For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

“Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle; you will not do it again!

Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

“Man, who is born of woman,
Is short-lived and full of turmoil.

For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.

These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept and sought His favor.
He found Him at Bethel
And there He spoke with us,

knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?

If you are slack in the day of distress,
Your strength is limited.

“If two men, a man and his countryman, are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and puts out her hand and seizes his genitals,

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.

Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.