Daily Bible Verses by Book

Heavenly father
give us grace to go out of our way to be reconciled to others today, remembering that we are never the completely innocent party

²³ “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar,
and there remember that your brother has anything against you, 
²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.
First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 
²⁵ Agree with your adversary quickly while you are with him on the way;
...

Heavenly father
give us grace to be careful with our looking at and our thinking about other people today,
and give us grace to allow evil no place in our minds and bodies

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said,  ‘You shall not commit adultery;’
²⁸ but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. 
²⁹ If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you.
For it is more profitable for you...

Heavenly father
give us grace to avoid doing things which have the semblance of being right, but which we know to be wrong,
and give us discernment to know what to do when all the options open to us seem wrong. 
 

³¹ “It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’
³² but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress;
and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.

Heavenly father
give us grace to be simple and clear in what we say today.

³³ “Again you have heard that it was said to the ancient ones,
‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’
³⁴ but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 
³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
 ³⁶ Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or...

Heavenly father
give us grace to never repay evil for evil, but to confront it with goodness

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 
³⁹ But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 
⁴⁰ If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. 
⁴¹ Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 
⁴² Give to him who asks you, and...

Heavenly father
give us grace to love those who do not love us, so that we may be your children today. 

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’
⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you,
and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 
⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.
For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends...

43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbour^[i] and hate your enemy.” 44 ...

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

Rev. James Lawson (1928–2024), an influential teacher of nonviolence in the civil rights movement, insists on the effective power of nonviolence: 

There is impracticality to violence. It’s ineffective and has been ineffective throughout the world for too many years. We must not let people who romanticize or mythologize violence persuade us that it has proven to be efficacious…. It has proven to be the most ineffective weapon. It drains emotional, psychological, moral,...

Jesus taught them, “But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” —Matthew 5:44 

Richard Rohr describes how loving our enemies is a practice of “integrating the negative,” accepting what we find unacceptable within ourselves: 

Our enemies always carry our own shadow side, the things we don’t like about ourselves. We will never face our own shadow until we embrace those who threaten us (as Francis of Assisi embraced the leper in his conversion experience). The people who turn us off...