A request

With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God. This is your reasonable service. Don't be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.

For I say, through the grace given to me, to each one of you: Don't cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you all. For just as you have many members in one physical body and those members differ in their functions, so we, though many in number, compose one body in Christ and are all members of one another.

Through the grace of God we have different gifts. If our gift is preaching or prophecy, let us do it in proportion to our faith - to the limit of our vision. If it is serving others let us concentrate on our service; if it is teaching let us give all we have to our teaching; and if our gift be the stimulating of the faith of others let us set ourselves to it. Let the man who is called to give, give freely, in simplicity; let the man who wields authority work diligently; and let the man who feels sympathy for his fellows in distress help them cheerfully.

Let us have no imitation Christian love. Let us genuinely hate evil and cling to what is good.

Let us have real warm affection for one another as between brothers, and a willingness to let the other man have the credit.

Let us not allow slackness to spoil our work and let us keep the fires of the spirit burning, as we do our work for God.

Base your happiness on your hope in Christ. When trials come endure them patiently; steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer.

Give freely to fellow-Christians in want, never grudging a meal or a bed to those who need them.

And as for those who try to make your life a misery, bless them. Don't curse, bless.

Share the happiness of those who are happy, the sorrow of those who are sad.

Live in harmony with each other. Don't become snobbish, setting your mind on the high things, but take a real interest in ordinary people. Don't become set in your own opinions.

Don't pay back a bad turn by a bad turn, to anyone. See that your public behavior is above criticism.

As far as your responsibility goes, live at peace with everyone.

Never take vengeance into your own hands, my dear friends: stand back and let God punish if he will. For it is written: 'Vengeance is mine. I will repay'.

These are God's words: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head'. Don't allow yourself to be overpowered with evil. Take the offensive - overpower evil by good!

Romans 12. A mashup of the Philips Paraphrase with the Recovery Version, with a little NKJ thrown in for good measure.