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Children, obey your parents as believers in the Lord. Obey them because it's the right thing to do. 2 Scripture says, ‘Honour your father and mother.’ That is the first commandment that has a promise. 3 ‘Then things will go well with you. You will live a long time on the earth.’ (Deuteronomy 5:16) 4 Fathers, don't make your children angry. Instead, instruct them and teach them the ways of the Lord as you bring them up.
5 Slaves, obey your masters here on earth. Respect them and honour them with a heart that is true. Obey them just as you would obey Christ. 6 Don't obey them only to please them when they are watching. Do it because you are slaves of Christ. Be sure your heart does what God wants. 7 Serve your masters with all your heart. Work as serving the Lord and not as serving people. 8 You know that the Lord will give each person a reward. He will give it to them in keeping with the good they do. It doesn't matter whether they are a slave or not.
9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. When you warn them, don't be too hard on them. You know that the God who is their Master and yours is in heaven. And he treats everyone the same.
5:21–6:9 Paul taught how people in God's family must treat their human family. In Paul's time, families usually included a husband, a wife, children and slaves. Men had the most authority in the family. Women, children and slaves had to obey them. Yet serving Jesus as Lord changed the way people acted in their families. They had to follow Jesus' example. Jesus is a leader who serves and he sacrificed himself for the good of others. Every member of the family was to treat one another with love and respect. The one who had the most authority in the family was Jesus. Paul called God the Master of all believers. He reminded them that God didn't treat any one believer as more important than another. Men, women, children and slaves were all part of the church. The church is so important to Jesus that Paul described the relationship like a marriage. The church being joined closely to Jesus is part of God's plan. It shows God's desire to save the whole world.
10 Finally, let the Lord make you strong. Depend on his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God's armour. Then you can remain strong against the devil's evil plans. 12 Our fight is not against human beings. It is against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world. It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world. 13 So put on all of God's armour. Evil days will come. But you will be able to stand up to anything. And after you have done everything you can, you will still be standing. 14 So remain strong in the faith. Put the belt of truth around your waist. Put the armour of godliness on your chest. 15 Wear on your feet what will prepare you to tell the good news of peace. 16 Also, pick up the shield of faith. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Put on the helmet of salvation. And take the sword of the Holy Spirit. The sword is God's word.
18 At all times, pray by the power of the Spirit. Pray all kinds of prayers. Be watchful, so that you can pray. Always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. 19 Pray also for me. Pray that whenever I speak, the right words will be given to me. Then I can be bold as I tell the mystery of the good news. 20 Because of the good news, I am being held by chains as the Lord's messenger. So pray that I will be bold as I preach the good news. That's what I should do.
21 Tychicus is a dear brother. He is faithful in serving the Lord. He will tell you everything about me. Then you will know how I am and what I am doing. 22 That's why I am sending him to you. I want you to know how we are. And I want him to encourage you.
23 May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give peace to the brothers and sisters. May they also give the believers love and faith.
24 May grace be given to everyone who loves our Lord Jesus Christ with a love that will never die.
6:10–24 The devil's plan for the world is evil. It's the opposite of God's plan to bring heaven and earth together under Jesus. On the cross, Jesus won the victory over the powers of evil, sin and death. That is the good news of peace that Paul talked about. Jesus doesn't yet rule completely over all the earth. Until he does, the devil continues trying to stop God's plan. Paul described this like a spiritual fight between the spiritual forces of evil and God. God's people are part of this battle. God gives them spiritual armour and weapons to help them. Believers can trust in God's power to save them from evil. God's power also makes them able to pray. The believers' prayers helped Paul to share the good news about Jesus boldly. Paul ended his letter with a blessing for the believers he was writing to. The blessing reminded them of how to be part of God's plan for the world. They received peace, love and faith from God. This allowed them to live together as a family that loves and serves Jesus.