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Christians have to live properly
1 Tell the Christians there to remember what we taught them, that they have to follow the government’s rules. They have to follow the rules of all the government bosses, and they always have to be ready to do good things.
2 And tell them not to say bad things about other people. They have to be happy with each other, and not fight or argue. They have to go easy on other people.
3 You know, we were like that before we believed in Jesus. We did silly things too. We didn’t do what God told us to do. People tricked us, and we believed things that were not true. And we wanted to do all sorts of bad things. We couldn’t stop ourselves. If anybody had a lot of things, we wanted those things for ourselves, and we were angry with those people. We hated people, and people hated us.
4 But then God did something to help us. He showed us how much he loves us.
5 God saved us, but he didn’t save us because we did good things. No. He saved us because he felt really sorry for us. Then his Holy Spirit washed us so that we are really clean inside, and he made us like we got born again as new people.
6 You see, God sent Jesus Christ to die for us and save us, and then he properly filled us with his Holy Spirit.
7 God was very good to us, and he did all that for us. So now we are his friends, we are in his family, and we are sure that we will live with him for ever. So we can be very happy.
8 That is all very true. I want you to teach those things strongly. I want you to be sure that people understand those things. Then the people that believe God’s message will think more about doing good things. And those good things will help everyone.
9 But make sure you don’t argue with people about silly things. You know, some people argue about family groups from a long time ago. They argue about all sorts of old rules. Don’t do that. It’s a waste of time. It doesn’t get you anywhere.
10 Some people teach things that are different from God’s true message. They get Christians to fight with each other, so you have to tell those people to stop. You might even have to tell them 2 times. And if they don’t stop after you tell them 2 times, then leave them and don’t have anything more to do with them.
11 Those people don’t believe God’s true message. They know that the things they do are wrong, but they keep on doing them anyway. They will not change.
Paul wanted to see Titus again
12 And now, Titus, I want to tell you about some people that are with me here. Artemas and Tikicus are here now, and I will send one of them to help you. After he gets there, please try to come and meet me at Nicopolis town. I will stay there in the next cold weather time.
13 And you know Zenas, the lawyer, and his mate, Apollos. Those 2 men will be leaving your place soon to go on a trip. Please help them as much as you can. Make sure they have everything they need for their trip.
14 And teach our people to do good things like that all the time. They have to help anybody that really needs things. When they do that, they will be doing something good with their lives.
15 All right, I’m going to finish my letter here. Everybody here with me says hello to you, and please say hello to the people there that love us and that believe God’s true message.
I pray that God will be very good to you.
From Paul