“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.” 2 Peter 1:3-7
I was going to type something about verses 5-7 only, then I would go back to verse 4 and think, “Oh, this needs to be there for others to understand what the in view of comment was all about. Then, I thought, “Well, verse 3 has to be included to share what and because of His glory meant. Y’all, I could share so much in all the books, chapters, and verses, but let me zero in on what caught my attention this morning.
Spoiler alert–we live in a corrupt world. How did it get this way? His word says because of human desires. Friend, may I remind you of something? In Psalm 37:4 it is written “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” If your desire is in line with God’s will, it will be given to you. I pray that you will find the Lord to be your greatest desire. Take pleasure in Him. When we (mankind) stray from delighting in Him, our priorities get all out of whack. Thus the trickle down effect of a corrupt world.
Oh, but these desires are the only trickling down that occurs. Check out the characteristics that get trickled down because of knowing Him: to your faith add goodness; to your goodness add knowledge; 6 to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add patience; to your patience add devotion to God; (ERV)
Because of the gift of His only Son, we have everything we need to live a godly life—a life truly devoted to Him. This devotion doesn’t come from simply knowing about Him; it comes from knowing Him on a personal level.
How do we develop that intimacy? By immersing ourselves in the Bible.
Think about when you are preparing for an exam. It’s not wise to just show up and take an exam without having any knowledge about the subject. You need to study your notes, books, be involved in a study group, etc.. This will prepare you for success. What about after a fine dining experience, you want to go home to recreate the incredible meal. You acquire the recipe from the chef. The process has many fresh ingredients and steps in order to experience the delectable taste again. You aren’t going to just wing it, you read the directions carefully and follow the directions. Living a godly life is similar. It requires opening the Bible, reading it, taking notes, and applying its truths to our daily walk. It is the greatest instruction manual for life ever written.
Acquiring the characteristics of God will permit you to escape the corruption of this world. Because of the great blessings that comes from truly knowing Jesus Christ, “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.”
I encourage you to get into God’s Word daily and apply it to your life. I promise you, it makes an impactful difference. It is the most incredible armor you can put on to stand firm against the corruption of the world.
Blessings to you and yours,
Stephanie