" His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things."
2 Peter 1:3-15
I am so blessed by this passage. God has made a way for us to escape the things of this world. It says we are able to escape the corruption of the world. Do you notice any thing corrupt around you? Take one look at the business world, government, or just the human race in general and you will see signs of corruption everywhere. You may be personally affected or part of something corrupt, but the amazing this is that the Lord has made a way to escape it! So how? Make every effort to add to our faith with virtue. What is virtue? Don't feel bad, I had to look it up to be sure. The Wikipedia definition is this: is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. So we add morals to our faith. I must know God's morals in order to add them to my faith. Taking them from the world and society around me will only lead to skewed virtue. Reading God's word is a crucial part of the equation. Then we are to add knowledge. So we must really get to know the Word. I need to desire to understand the Word of God on a deeper level. This will involved digging in, the commitment of time, and some serious diligence. Then to the knowledge I must add self-control: the ability to exercise restraint or control over one's feelings, emotions, reactions, etc. This takes action on my part. I now know that ability only comes after I have added virtue and knowledge to my faith. Faith then is a critical part in this process. I can not do any of these steps without first having faith. I am starting to realize that the faith is not just for salvation, but in my daily walk with the Lord. Do I have faith each and every day in the promises of God? Do I trust Him at His word? If not, then I am calling Him a liar and questioning Him. Once I am able to assert self-control, then I must add steadfastness to my repertoire. I love the definitions for this word: 1. Fixed or unchanging; steady. 2. Firmly loyal or constant; unswerving. So I must be fixed on the Lord and unswerving. I must not be tossed to and fro by every idea that comes along. This reminds me of the passages that talk about being solidly built on the foundation of Christ. Good stuff... So now the next step after laying a solid unchanging foundation is to add in godliness. And godliness is characterized by: reverence for God and a life of holiness in the world (Baker's Evangelical Dictionary). In order to have a reverence for God, I must first know this God. And when I know this God, I am motivated by His love and His holiness to live a life of holiness set apart from the world.
I have to break here because reading the following piece of the process is strange. Brotherly love? Isn't this something that should come earlier on? Obviously God knows that true brotherly love only comes from knowing God's love. I cannot truly love a brother or sister if I don't really understand God's love. When I see Christ and his example on earth, I can see what true brotherly love is. It is a love that cherishes other believers and people in general. Ugh, this is convicting. How much do I cherish my brothers and sisters? I can honestly say that I do have brotherly love for some. In some relationships it is easy and comes with very little effort. There are those relationships that are much more difficult and take more work. Lord, you know I need your strength for this one! It is interesting though that this so far at the end of the list. I suppose it can be a tell tale sign of any problem areas. If I am not loving my brothers and sisters well, then I most likely have not successfully added one of the other traits to my walk. Self checkup? I think this could be groundbreaking! Oh to work these things out and apply what He is teaching! I can only imagine what it would look like.
So the final thing we are asked to add to our faith is love. Why? This is the love of God. It is agape love. This is love beyond human capacity. It is love that goes beyond logic, beyond reason, beyond anything we can come up with on our own. It is unconditional. It is a love that is sacrificial. I always think of the Lord and His death for me. Then I think of the Father and how He gave His son to die for me. Amazing! There are no words to adequately describe what this means to me. This is the love that I hope to show to others. I know it is impossible to do on my own. There is no way I can fabricate this kind of love. It is not an emotion. It is not based on anyone else and their actions. It is simply a response to the love already poured out on me. Hallelujah!
So here it is...the big truth that the Lord gave me. Without these things, I will become ineffective and unfruitful in my knowledge of the Lord. It will not be worked out in me. I will be doing nothing of value when it comes to the work that God desires for me to do. And even more serious is the fact that I will fall. If I desire to be strong in the Lord and withstand the corruption in the world, then I must seek the Lord and diligently add these things to my faith. Faith in itself cannot sustain me. Hmm...this is heavy. I cannot sit back and just hope for the best in life. I cannot just trust and do nothing. It won't work. There is some serious labor to be done. This seems daunting on the surface, but let me tell you, there is nothing more wonderful than hearing from God! There is nothing more rewarding than beginning to change. There is nothing more wonderful than understanding and claiming the promises of God for yourself. There is so much power in knowing who you are in Christ and understanding who God is. It is not laborious, it is not a chore. There is joy, excitement, and amazing peace that comes with obeying the Lord. There is freedom that cannot be described. You must experience it for yourself. I pray that the Lord continues to open my eyes to these amazing truths. I pray that He keeps on changing me. Now to meditate and pray on these things.
Goodnight and God Bless
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