The More You Grow Like This!

2 Peter 1:3-9 says,
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires. 5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God has given us His promises that empower real transformation – metamorphosis – in our very being! From lowly to divine, from corrupt to eternal! Knowing this, why wouldn’t we make every effort to access and grow in these promises? Peter tells us that although this transformation starts with faith, we must actively add to our faith personal integrity (moral excellence), experiential understanding (knowledge) of God’s Word & Ways, the ability to govern our behavior and harness our actions (self-control), continuing fortitude and persistence in what we know to be right regardless of the circumstances or attitudes around us (patient endurance), a proper attitude of submission and worship of God’s eternal plan (godliness), an encompassing love for other believers, and finally, an inclusionary love for everyone.

Peter then tells us that the more we grow in these areas, the more fruitful and useful our faith will be. Our Christian faith must not stop with how much we know about Jesus – how many times we’ve read the Bible, or how many verses we’ve memorized. If we are truly going to experience God’s plans for us, as well as live out God’s purposes for us, our knowledge must be transformed into decision, commitment, and action.