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GUIDELINES FOR LIVING
We live in an increasingly complex world with many competing opinions and viewpoints. It is difficult to gain a clear and certain vision of what to do and how to live so that we can become better people and build a future filled with real joy, joy that pleases God.
The road our lives will take has not been marked out in advance. In our contemporary society where so many philosophies offer “ready- made” thinking and answers, we must choose our own way and find the signposts that will lead us on.
The book you are holding in your hands is filled with stories of people who knew their values and followed them, and who give witness to the riches of life based on values like solidarity, liberty, justice, family and love: Elizabeth, Martha, Mary, Jesus, John, Paul, Luke, Matthew, Mark, James, and many more.
What do the writers of the New Testament speak about? What guidelines for life do they offer us? They speak about God, of course, and about Jesus. But they also speak about humanity in its deepest reality. The texts of the New Testament were written a long time ago for people who, like us, searched for answers to their questions about life and wanted to lead fulfilling lives and build a healthy community. They also wanted to understand who Jesus is and to know more about the hope and promise he brings to humanity. These writers do not give us final answers to the many questions we encounter in life, but their inspired writings can help us on the way of understanding.
The passages you will find in the following pages are all from the New Testament. They are offered not as black-and-white answers but as guidelines to help you formulate answers to your own questions. Their words will help you look differently at God, at society, at your relationships, and at yourself.
These passages were chosen for their power to speak to the heart. We have selected passages that have found an echo in our own lives. These are words that have in turn seduced, challenged, maddened, encouraged, and confirmed us in our life choices. To assist you in your reading, the passages are grouped by theme, arranged alphabetically. Each biblical passage includes a reference to the chapter and verses in the New Testament book from which it was taken and to the page in this book where it can be found. In this way, you can read each selection in the larger context in which it appears in the New Testament.