Before Marriage

Marriage is when a person wants to spend their life with another person as a one family unit side by side in this world. When two people want to buy matching shirts, pants, shorts, socks, shoes, hats…etc they are sending a visual message to everyone else that looks upon them that they are together as one. Rings on certain fingers is a visual message that they are married to one another.   Marriage is a signed legal form or a formal recognition of a union of two people as partners in a joining relationship as one flesh.

People get married for many different reasons, but the original purpose of marriage was to take away loneliness. The daunting task is to find that one person who can be one flesh and one spirit (soul mate) without other blinding interferences.

God does not want loneliness to exist for anyone including Himself. God created a son in His own image and likeness. There was only one Adam on planet earth and God saw his loneliness. There was no mate for Adam in all the earth only animals with mates of their kind. God is a solutionist. God put Adam to sleep like a doctor would apply anesthesia controlling the pain, blood pressure, blood flow, and breathing taking a rib from inside Adam’s one and only body to form his mate for the purpose of taking away his loneliness. Two people from the same flesh as one.

Unfortunately, marriage is a hit or miss situation left in our hands. Our flesh sends the sensory inputs to our inside spirit of what we think is a reason to marry someone for the rest of our life. Your selfishness is meeting their selfishness deceiving you both unless there is one of you that has an awareness. The seems good is a form of “Love is Blind”, overriding the reality of each other’s truth. The key is those reasons are the same on both parties coming together creating a oneness of those reasons.

Majority of people allow the appearance of the other person to be their foundation of reasons to marry them. After marrying that body you wanted to be yours the rest of your life turns out to have a spiritual driver inside it that you did not see when dating. This is where the “Love is Blind” statement comes up. The “Love is Blind” is really a tunnel vision of a personal reason or reasons of your choice. You personally put blinders on conscientiously (knowingly) or unconsciously (unknowingly) the other facts about that person. There is a demonic selfishness that lies hidden underneath our skin continuously promoting the blindness of love. This is a very high risk rolling of the dice approach of a happy ever after marriage.

Some go out focused on a career or a place of occupation they want to reach as a goal in life. Along this path they meet different people. In this locked in frame of mind this person could be wanting the outward appearance to match what they think will help their career and the other could be looking for skills above the looks for their career. Conscientiously (knowingly) or unconsciously (unknowingly) that demonic selfishness hidden underneath the skin is blinding other possible red flags about a person you are considering as a life long partner because after marriage you come face to face of their spirit driver hidden underneath their skin. This is also a very high risk of the rolling of the dice of a happy ever after marriage.

Another group of people go out searching for looks and personality/intelligence. This is a closer approach to hitting the bull’s eye and less than rolling the dice, but still has hidden flaws for possible deception. It may be difficult to believe, but there are those who thought they were being careful weighing the looks and personality/intelligence in balance only to find out after marriage the fine tuned ability of the other spiritual driver of that body was as crafty as they were hiding the real truth about themselves. Hollywood does not have the best actors in the world. They live among the common people of every day life.

It does not matter what you are taking out there with you whether it is for appearances only, career boosting only, or the mix of appearance and personality the element of the demonic selfishness underneath the skin can still have its way with you leaving you to discover the true nature of the spirit driver inside that person you married. Almost everyone puts on their best behavior in dating no matter the length of time their reason is locked in to the end of getting you.

WHAT SHOULD I BEING DOING?

Take the time to list the different things from different people who you really like and do not grow tired of being around it. Obviously, whatever is your first priority start your listing there. If it is looks form your likes, but go onto a list of personalities and level of intelligence you like.

LIST EXAMPLES: LOOKS

Black Long Hair,  5’10” or taller, Slender/athletic body, high cheekbones, pleasant/cute/pretty/peaceful face, smooth/soft skin, compassionate/color eyes, beautiful smile, sweet/soft voice…etc The more specific you are the more you see yourself destroying that demonic selfishness hidden underneath your skin and the development of your true preference emerging.

PERSONALITY/INTELLIGENCE

Religion preference, positive/solution minded, perceptive, sensitive, close/equal intelligence, moderate conversationalist, high integrity, humble, respectful, reasonable, moderate romantic, modesty minded, organized, elegant outside, playful inside…etc This is pushing the point of being specific because it is important to have these things up front in your mind or your heart will be deceived by the demonic selfishness underneath your skin. The key words are “…will be…” in the previous sentence if you don’t self examine yourself before marriage. If you go on these dating sites they should push you to the preferences that matter to you and why not have them inside your head instead of trusting the web?

CAREER/LIFE GOALS

Average or above with computers, music abilities, moderate people person, mature advice, independently resourceful, team minded, always looking to improving things, moderate worker, explorer…etc These are generalizations to things that could be career/life goals supportive qualities. I know you can list more.

A quick note if the someone you have your eye upon is doing the function or ability you are looking for does not mean their heart, mind, and soul is into the physical action they are doing. The skill or talent you are observing and falling in love with has a spirit driver inside that flesh that can be in another world while they are physically doing the skill or talent you like. In marrying them you may have given them an outlet and they no longer care to keep doing the skill or talent you thought would help you achieve your goals. This is where that demonic selfishness can blind you from the reality of truth from them and yourself.

SELF QUESTIONS

The first thing is if your attraction (=looks, career, looks/personality) to someone goes past the eye contact into a date or dating the self examining of yourself should kick in with questions (this will save your life) and fight the star struck feeling. Self examination digs out and reveals that demonic selfishness hidden underneath your skin. Red flags of things you don’t like should be a set number of them that makes it a deal breaker. Why a certain number of red flags as a deal breaker is because no one is perfect. The human factor will always exist, but the level of their red flags should be a making yourself move on. The less red flags you can find the happier you will be and them.

If you don’t do this from the beginning marking the red flags that you don’t like as you go along the persuasions of the demonic selfishness starts the smooth soft talking voice of lying reasons just as bad as the devil did to Eve in the garden of Eden with the possible same after effects. And it is a “Yes” you can lose your life in a marriage, but not in the sense of death to your body which naturally occurs. You can lose your life in the sense of the dreams, the goals, and the residing potential inside yourself decaying away.

Question one that you go after digging for the real truth inside yourself is “Why am I so drawn to them?” In complete all honesty with yourself answer it. You will start to see what category you are in with yourself. Am I stronger in the looks of the person? Am I looking for a support to my career or life goals? Am I drawn to the their looks and personality/intelligence? After you have established what area are you drawn to them you can start pulling from all other areas scoring and dropping red flags.

DATING

Choosing a date like you would a mate is a tough standard, but it will keep you from the demonic selfishness underneath your skin and the one underneath their skin from doing something you’ll regret either later or the rest of your life. Now, this is where the demonic selfishness underneath your skin plays the card on you of loneliness, slaps down beside it the card of depression, and then stares at you with pressure to hurry up and make a move. Remember this is a demonic selfishness underneath your skin doing the lying. You are in control of what you can do in life and there is a whole world of people out there not limited to your language only.

What traps most people is the four wall vision. The place we live in is like a four walled boxed in place. Our schools are like a four walled boxed in place. Our jobs become like a four walled boxed in place. Our churches are like a four walled boxed in place. Our drives to school, church, and work becomes a four walled boxed in route. Our demonic selfishness underneath our skin has the four walled boxed in place blinders on our minds, hearts, and souls. We become brainwashed that where we are living is all that there is to choose from in this life, which is a lie.

You are in this town thinking with the four walled boxed in thoughts while over in another town, city, or country another person who could potentially match your soul mate list is thinking the same thing and not making a move to explore other areas. You need to travel, but not just one place. I mean really travel as far as within your means. If you think you are alone with the pressure you’ve got to find someone fast or it is the end of the world go on the internet and check out other towns, cities, and countries. It will blow your mind on all the people who are outside your four walled boxed in lies. Get out of your demonic selfishness underneath your skin comfort zone and go to places that interest you and meet  different people. Knock down the four walled boxed in thinking and open your options to a vast world of choices.

You will find a ton of new friends who will connect you to others and through it all there will be someone who will light up your list with check marks with extremely low x’s. People no matter their language, their color, and their gender will have the same thing in them as you do. They will either be after a person for looks only, career/life goals only, or the mix of looks and personality/intelligence. They have the same demonic selfishness underneath their skin blinding them as you do no matter who, what, when, and where they are from. Flesh is flesh and spirit is spirit. We are all the same no matter what language we speak.

All the above dealt with your demonic selfishness underneath your skin and other people. One more very important clue to pass on while searching for your life partner of happiness – the parents.

PARENT/PARENTS/GUARDIAN

Genetically all will (KEY WORD = WILL) turn out like their parents and/or grandparents. You need to find out in the beginning as much as you can about the parents looks, careers, and personalities/intelligence. The one you are interested in no matter what category you are in (looks, career, personality/intelligence) they will have portions of their parents make-up. You need to keep going through your list and dropping flags where you need to drop them. I know this rough, but I am trying to save you a lifetime of suffering.

I don’t care how much you think you can change them or how they are not so like their parents you think, after marriage the hidden demonic selfishness underneath their skin will show themselves behind the closed doors of your home while the rest of the world thinks they are wonderful. The attitude of you will change them is kicking God out of His throne and you sitting in His chair to do His job. It is taking on the task of a square and forcing it to be round. In the end it will still be the majority square with only the corners chewed off with your teeth missing and the wrinkles of age upon you.

If one parent or both yells a great deal the one you are interested in will yell like them at one point or another. They have the ingredient to yell in them, but suppressing it while dating you. If one or the other has a bad temper drop a red flag. If you are a peaceful person this should be a deal breaker. If one or the other has a negative attitude drop a red flag. If you are a positive person this should be a deal breaker. Try to find out how far does it go back into their family of having these traits. Does it go from them to their parent and onto the grandparent? If it does you are dealing with an inherited trait that only God can fix if they are willing to let Him fix it, but you can’t you are not God (don’t marry them). You are dealing with things that are known or unknown. You may see the traits, but the person you are interested may not see them under their own nose. You are not God and you cannot force out of them those traits. God does not force any of us to be perfect, but allows us the freedom of choice for His assistance. They must see it inside themselves and WANT in themselves to change the trait(s) with more than just words, but a strong evidential proof of consecutive change.

CONCLUSION

If you have made it this far in your reading I say, “God bless you”. Divorce is more common than a life long marriage of happiness in the world today. Marriage for the majority is left up to us to judge on who we want to marry. I am not speaking for you, but the human factor of making mistakes is very high in all of us including marriage. You will marry for looks, career/life goals, or a mix of looks and personality/intelligence. The gamble is in all of them, but you can change them from high risk, medium risk to low risk. For some it is too late the demonic selfishness underneath the skin has trapped people into a marriage that maybe your parents or your friend’s parents.

Marriage will make you, break you, or imprison you for a life of servitude as caretaker. Make your list, see your list with understanding, and hang on tight to it for the greater than Hollywood stars you will meet in life. The “make you” is happiness, the “break you” is sadness, and the “imprison you” is darkness. Do you really want to haphazardly roll the dice on someone for your life?

I have been a little tough in this article. Marriage retreats, marriage counselors, marriage advisers, marriage self helps are all well and good, but there are some things that man has no power to change no matter how cotton candy they try to pump you up the truth is sometimes only in God’s hands. Be wise before you ask or accept the proposal of marriage.

You have to fight for your own happiness with perception and understanding as wisdom guides your footsteps of commitment.

Born in Prison

I was born in prison. As any other child before reaching the age of perceiving and understanding reality life was normal to me. My parent’s crime carried the death penalty without the option of parole. The country they committed this crime passes the judgment to all family members without any possible change to the sentence. I was not only born in prison, but I was born on death row. The phase of being a baby, to a child, and a little older the understanding of the situation was still not understood. Prison was not seen as a prison right under my nose.

It is hard to see something as a prison when it is all you have ever known. It is in plain sight, but goes unnoticed because you were born into it. Adapting is what we all do in this life. We adapt and work with what is handed to us from the good to the bad. As in all prison life there are those hated, loved, favored, ignored, and drama. We all have our scars, good and bad memories. What else can we do it is prison and out of our control. All we can do is wake up and repeat doing our best.

Before my parents committed their crime they carried full authority over all the country given to them by the original creator that made the country what it was. They had complete control over all things with the exception of one tiny area. The one area was off-limits per the country creator’s law. He told my dad before he was married to my mom that violating and breaking this one rule in this one area carries the death penalty, but the rest of the country he could do as he pleases. It was all his and whatever he did affected the entire country.

The original creator of the country thought so highly of my dad he passed ownership of the entire country into his hands with the one set rule still in place of the contract. The original creator still maintained absolute power overseeing all, but my dad and mom had complete freedom. He would visit with my dad and have him to name some of his products and whatever dad wanted to call them that is what they were to be called. He watched my dad and felt sorry for him being alone. He even arranged the meeting of mom to my dad. He loved my dad and mom as his own children with complete trust in their free decisions.

I am not sure if my mom and dad knew about a previous person the original creator entrusted a great deal of his assets and what happened. This previous person had almost the same setup as my parents, but in a different country. This person had great power, was not satisfied, became greedy and wanted to overthrow the original creator of his country, which had a death penalty attached to it. This person committed a crime against the original creator invoking the death penalty upon himself and all the ones he convinced into his overthrowing plot. This previous person was locked away in that tiny area dad was warned about not to get involved or the death penalty would be passed onto him.

One day mom and dad passed by this tiny area. The previous person with death upon him started talking to my mom from the danger zone using his smooth words enticing her with false treasures to be gained if she would violate the one law. He convinced her enough to start looking into this off-limits area and seeing what was an evil product of death as good to try for the gaining of knowledge equal or higher to the original creator. She took the forbidden product from the restricted area into her hands swallowing the poisonous lies into her body. She then turned to my dad and handed him the same forbidden product of which he too swallowed the death penalty inside of himself.

They both were instantly changed. The good, innocent, clean, clear, happy, and care free life they had before changed into complete shame of who they were the rest that comes with darkness. The original creator came by for a visit as he did before to see them and they were nowhere in sight. He started calling out their names to find them hiding from him. They told him the complete story of the why and what happened. The original creator though he loved them the law was locked into place and he passed the sentence upon each one of them from the previous person, mom, and then dad. The original creator loved mom and dad so much he could not change the death penalty they were going to die, but he could add to it. He added a single payment of death for the whole debt that only could be paid by a special circumstance. It would not stop death, but it would allow an escape when death strikes.

The prison sentence of death was now in effect to all. Mom and dad started to have children, and generations began to follow populating the country. I did not realize being born that I was in a prison on death row. After growing older the wisdom and understanding has stepped in to explain. I have the sentence of death on me and it cannot be changed.

My mom and dad are our ancestor parents of all of mankind, Adam and Eve. The death sentence of sin came into our world through one man, our dad Adam, and death came to all of us at birth (Ro. 5:12). We are all born in prison. Prison is something you and I think of as a building with bar windows and doors specifically built for those who commit crimes with different levels of punishment. These prison buildings is what the generations of people after our parents have tried to separate the above normal violent from the rest of us, but this is not the prison I am speaking about.

There is a prison not made of the hands of man with block walls, barb-wired fences, bar windows, and doors. When we are born into our baby formed fleshly bodies we are born with the inherited crime of our parents with the clock of time ticking towards death. All of us are born to die. It does not matter if you live a righteous, wicked, good, clean, unclean, sacrificial giving, selfish, sinner, swearing, or non-committing life there is an evil among all things that is done under the sun in which we live that happens one event to all of us – our bodies will die releasing our spirit. Our prison of death is our physical fleshly bodies. All bodies with talents of containing the fastest, the strongest, the wisest, the richest, and the most skillful will die (Eccl. 9:1-5). Our body is the prison to our spirit and when it dies our spirit will return to the original creator (Eccl. 12:7) for a judgment of eternity (Heb. 9:27).

Every day a prisoner wakes up in his cell makes a decision on what he will do that day in his cell. He determines what he is going to do that day for the things coming his way. We may not be behind the physical block walls and cells of a physical building prison serving our time, but we are in a fleshly prison cell. We wake up every day in our fleshly body cell making decisions on what we will do that day. We determine what we are going to do that day for the things coming our way, yet time is ticking closer to the day we know not the death sentence will come upon us.

I know this has the gloominess and darkness about it, but this is facing reality that we all will have our bodies we contained in to die. We all have loved ones, friends, acquaintances, and strangers whose bodies have died in our lives. We have stood over them seeing their body empty of their personality. Our minds think they could speak and get up at any moment, but they do neither. They have finished serving their time and have been released from their fleshly prison cell body. This is where the possible escape clause can be applied to our spirit after the body dies.

In the physical block buildings prisoners live everyday carefully in what they say and do because their actions will determine their path in life. This life in our fleshly prison cell must be lived carefully for the saving of our true self. We are looking out through the bars of our prison, listening through the bars of our prison, tasting things through the bar of our prison, smelling life through the bar of our prison, and touching life through our bars of prison storing our actions into our spirit on the inside our prison cell the good, the bad, and the ugly things of our everyday prison life. We are all, the people of our ancestor parents of Adam and Eve, are destined to die once in our bodies and after that to face judgment of our spirit with the possible eternal prison of a never-ending torturing death or a never-ending of freedom of life (Heb. 9:27).

A WAY OF ESCAPE

The original creator activated his love for us clause to allow a way of escape for our ancestor mom, dad, and all of us born after them with their death sentence upon them. The original creator came into our world by the same fleshly way we are all born into this world. The difference from his birth and ours was he made his own fleshly cell free from sin crime committed by our ancestor mom and dad inside a virgin girl, but with the same countdown to death in his flesh. He was also born into a fleshly prison cell on death row of this world like us.

Just like any other prisoner he woke up everyday making decisions on what he was going to do that day inside his fleshly prison cell. His mission was set on completing the clause of escape for us to be redeemed with a choice after death strikes our fleshly bodies. He wanted to create another body for us. This is an exchange of a prison body of death for a temple of life for us (2 Cor. 5:1).

He walked among us in his flesh prison cell of death, but with the spirit of life inside it. He faced all of our temptations overcoming them every day. He faced our different emotional sins with answers of life. He walked among our prisons filled with lies speaking words of spirit and life. He was confronted by the previous person and his followers commanding them to get out of his way. He touched our fleshly prison cells of diseased torment with healings. He fed us when we were starving. He stood up for us in front of other prisoners making them walk away from hurting us with his words of conviction, compassion, and forgiveness. He even returned one of us back to this world for a little longer after death struck the body down releasing the spirit back to God, himself.

The final phase of completing the intervening clause for our sake was to pay to death penalty passed onto all of us from our ancestor parents. One night he allowed the other prisoners to take him into their prison cell leaders. They chained him, beat him, spit on him, and pulled his beard. The prison cell leaders took him up to the head prisoner to have him officially killed. They took him into a room to beat him forty times with a whip with nine leather straps with sharp things sown into them. They wrapped his bleeding body with a robe and a crown of thorns mocking him as the king just like in the day dad and mom were the king and queen of this world. They took him out to a hill inside the prison yard and nailed his hands and feet to a wooden cross. They raised him up for every other prisoner to see him. His body with ripped skin, a nail driven through his fleshly prison cell hands and feet with a crown of thorns smashed upon his head his said before death struck his body to forgive us because we do not know what we are truly doing. His final words sealed the completeness of the clause for us when he said, “It is finished” and his fleshly prison cell body died releasing his sin free spirit (2 Cor. 5:21).

He returned to his body that was laid in a tomb converting it from a fleshly prison of death into a temple of light and life. He created the only body that contains our spirit after leaving the fleshly body as the vehicle to life eternal. If we leave this world without his body he created for us our spirit will unprotected from being sent to the eternal place of torture. He created a way of escape for you and me from these bodies of death we were born into. For us to serve our time in our fleshly prison cell of going to die bodies we can escape the final prison for our spirit. He did not stop our bodies from dying in this world. The clause was not to stop death for it must be paid separating them from sinful flesh, but our spirit can be saved from the prison cell and placed into a temple of life forever.

I hope you can see the real eternal you is a prisoner of your fleshly body. If you have lived long enough you have seen, given, or experienced the sexual immorality in this fleshly prison. You have seen, given, or experienced firsthand hatred, jealousy, fits of rage, selfishness, drunkenness, lovers of themselves, pride, abusiveness, ungratefulness, slanderous, no self-control, deceivers, and even those having a form of godliness covering their dark intentions. Some of these names of other prisoners popped up in my head and some even matched me before I accepted the escape clause contract with God.

SALVATION CONTRACT

For our spirit to escape after this fleshly prison cell faces death we have to follow the steps Jesus, the original creator, provided for us to walk out of prison a free man (mankind). Our one ancestor dad brought death to us all and one man brought life to us all if we want it. We don’t have to die like Jesus, but just go through the steps of applying what he done into our lives to place the seal of the escape clause on us. He first lived his prison cell life here with his back turned against the sinful flesh. We will need to repent and turn our backs on the sins in our lives from our fleshly prison cell. He died on the cross for us and was buried. For us to apply his death on us we need to be baptized fully submerged under water like a burial service in his name, Jesus, applying his blood to forgive and wash us clean of all sins. He lived this life with the Spirit of God inside of him guiding him and showing him how to live this life the right way Acts 2:38. We must receive his spirit with the acknowledgment of speaking in a language we have not learned (Acts 2:4-11) as he gives it to us as a sign we have literally received his Spirit that man cannot give.

He is our substitute when death strikes our bodies he steps in to catch our spirit being release wrapping it and clothing it with a body like his of light and life bypassing death, hell, and the grave. The only reason this can happen is because these are the steps he went through in our place paving the way, the truth, and the life to the Father (the original creator). After Jesus paid the death price he descended where there were others in captivity and set them free taking them with him into the heavens. He created the escape route to bypass these horrible places after death, but by only following his footsteps.

EXCELLENT READING:

Eph. 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions ?10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.26 “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,27 and do not give the devil a foothold.28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

2 Cor. 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.7 For we live by faith, not by sight.8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.