God’s promises are many and will not go unfulfilled. But how do we make sure we are prepared to respond correctly to these promises when they come?
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (2 Peter 1:5-7)
Notice the progression here; it’s not by accident. You have faith, great! True goodness cannot come without it. And trusting in God’s goodness will lead us to grow in knowledge; and so on. We tend to come to faith and immediately expect some built-in self-control to come along with it, but we must grow in the knowledge of Christ to effectively be able to give His Spirit the reigns of life so we can attain self-control. And without that control, we cannot persevere.
Living a godly life cannot happen until we’ve conquered ‘self’, truly accepting that our old self was nailed to the Cross of Christ. Through that revelation we find affection of our brothers and sisters in the faith, and that affection will lead us into a life of knowing true and open love of our fellow man.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:8)
Want to be effective for the Kingdom? Follow the breadcrumbs!
#LoveMatters