Bible verses about "tough love" | ISV

¹ Judging Others
“Stop judging, so that you won’t be judged, ² because the way that you judge others will be the way that you will be judged, and you will be evaluated by the standard with which you evaluate others.
³ “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when the beam is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
⁶ Despising the Holy“Never give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs. Otherwise, they will trample them with their feet and then turn around and attack you.”
⁷ Ask, Search, Knock
“Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you. ⁸ Because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.
⁹ “There isn’t a person among you who would give his son a stone if he asked for bread, is there? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, he wouldn’t give him a snake, would he? ¹¹ So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who keep on asking him! ¹² Therefore, whatever you want people to do for you, do the same for them, because this summarizes the Law and the Prophets.”
¹³ The Narrow Gate
“Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the road is spacious that leads to destruction, and many people are entering by it. ¹⁴ How narrow is the gate and how constricted is the road that leads to life, and there aren’t many people who find it!”
¹⁵ A Tree is Known by Its Fruit
“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are savage wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruit. Grapes aren’t gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire. ²⁰ So by their fruit you will know them.”
²¹ I Never Knew You
“Not everyone who keeps saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will get into the kingdom from heaven, but only the person who keeps doing the will of my Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name, didn’t we?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who practice evil!’”
²⁴ The Two Foundations
“Therefore, everyone who listens to these messages of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock. ²⁵ The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation was on the rock.
²⁶ “Everyone who keeps on hearing these messages of mine and never puts them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and battered that house, and it collapsed—and its collapse was total.”
²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying all these things, the crowds were utterly amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he was teaching them like a person who had authority, and not like their scribes.

⁵ For everyone must carry his own load.

¹ GreetingsFrom: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.
To: The twelve tribes in the Dispersion.
Greetings.
² Responding Wisely to LifeConsider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ But you must let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
⁵ Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But he must ask in faith, without any doubts, for the one who has doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ He is a double-minded man, unstable in all he undertakes.
⁹ A brother of humble means should rejoice in his having been exalted, ¹⁰ and a rich person in his having been humbled, because he will fade away like a wild flower. ¹¹ For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass. The flower in it drops off, and its beauty is gone. That is how the rich person will fade away in his pursuits.
¹² Trial and TemptationHow blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor’s crown of life that God has promised to those who keep on loving him. ¹³ When someone is tempted, he should not say, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. ¹⁴ Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. ¹⁵ When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death.
¹⁶ Practical Christian LivingDo not be deceived, my dear brothers. ¹⁷ Every generous act of giving and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father who made the heavenly lights, in whom there is no inconsistency or shifting shadow. ¹⁸ In accordance with his will he made us his children by the word of truth, so that we might become the most important of his creatures.
¹⁹ You must understand this, my dear brothers. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. ²⁰ For human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, rid yourselves of everything impure and every expression of wickedness, and with a gentle spirit welcome the word planted in you that can save your souls.
²² Keep on being obedient to the word, and not merely being hearers who deceive themselves. ²³ For if anyone hears the word but is not obedient to it, he is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror ²⁴ and studies himself carefully, and then goes off and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But the one who looks at the perfect law of freedom and remains committed to it—thereby demonstrating that he is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of what that law requires—will be blessed in what he does.
²⁶ If anyone thinks that he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but instead deceives himself, his religion is worthless. ²⁷ A religion that is pure and stainless according to God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows who are suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

¹² Therefore, whatever you want people to do for you, do the same for them, because this summarizes the Law and the Prophets.”

⁸ Above all, continue to love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.

¹ Complete the Task Entrusted to YouIn the presence of God and the Messiah Jesus, who is going to judge those who are living and those who are dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly appeal to you ² to proclaim the message. Be ready to do this whether or not the time is convenient. Refute, warn, and encourage with the utmost patience when you teach. ³ For the time will come when people will not tolerate healthy doctrine, but with itching ears will surround themselves with teachers who cater to their people’s own desires. ⁴ They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths. ⁵ But you must be clear-headed about everything. Endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist. Devote yourself completely to your ministry.
⁶ I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for my departure has come. ⁷ I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith. ⁸ The victor’s crown of righteousness is now waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on the day that he comes, and not only to me but also to all who eagerly wait for his appearing.
⁹ Final Instructions to TimothyDo your best to come to me soon, ¹⁰ because Demas, having fallen in love with this present world, has abandoned me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry. ¹² I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.
¹³ When you come, bring the coat I left with Carpus in Troas, as well as the scrolls and especially the parchments. ¹⁴ Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will pay him back for what he did. ¹⁵ You, too, must watch out for him, for he violently opposed our message.
¹⁶ At my first trial no one came to my defense. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be held against them! ¹⁷ However, the Lord stood by me and gave me strength so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles could hear it. I was rescued out of a lion’s mouth. ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will take me safely to his heavenly kingdom. Glory belongs to him forever and ever! Amen.
¹⁹ Final GreetingGreet Prisca and Aquila and the family of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus in Miletus because he was sick. ²¹ Do your best to come to me before winter. Eubulus sends you greetings, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers.
²² May the Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with all of you! Amen.

⁴ Love is always patient; love is always kind; love is never envious or arrogant with pride. Nor is she conceited, ⁵ and she is never rude; she never thinks just of herself or ever gets annoyed. She never is resentful; ⁶ is never glad with sin; she’s always glad to side with truth, and pleased that truth will win. ⁷ She bears up under everything; believes the best in all; there is no limit to her hope, and never will she fall.
⁸ Love never fails. Now if there are prophecies, they will be done away with. If there are languages, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away with.