Freedom House Church and Healing Centre

In my previous blog titled ‘The Best Invitation We Ever Received’ I went through 2 Peter 1:2-4 in detail.  This blog will focus on 2 Peter 1:5-9. 

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. (2 Peter 1:5-9 NKJ)  I encourage you also to read these verses in The Message version.

Because we have been called, given all things pertaining to life and godliness, given exceeding great and precious promises and renounced the corruption that is in the world, we are exhorted to give careful and persistent effort to grow in faith, adding to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

• Virtue-good character
• Knowledge-spiritual understanding of God and Jesus our Lord
• Self-control-alert discipline
• Perseverance-patience, endurance
• godliness-reverence (fear) manifested in actions, living according to God
• Brotherly kindness-warm friendliness, love for mankind, readiness to help, human friendship, benevolence and taking thought of others.  
• Love (agape)-undefeatable benevolence, unconquerable goodwill

If these things are ours and abound, we will be useful and fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Without these qualities we can’t see what’s right before us, oblivious that our old sinful life has been wiped off the books!

I want to share with you some personal thoughts and desires regarding these scriptures.

I desire to grow in godliness and pursue holiness.  I desire to grow in faith, to be useful to God and be fruitful.  None of this is possible without Holy Spirit!  I desire for Holy Spirit to develop in me good character (virtue), helping me to be a woman of integrity, honesty, loyalty, commitment and courage.  I desire to do the right thing according to God’s wisdom and ways, not the world’s or my own.

I love to spend time with Jesus, getting to know Him more!  Listening to Him and spending time in His Word.  There are many decisions to make every day and I do not want to lean on my own understanding, but rather on the wisdom of Holy Spirit to help me to know the best decision to make and the right path to take.

Holy Spirit has helped me to be disciplined; not rigid but disciplined.  I often declare over myself that I have a steadfast, self-controlled mind meaning that I am led by who God is, what He says and who I am in Christ; not by emotions, mine or others.  I am often reminded of Pro 25.28 (NLT), A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.  Exercising self-control, a fruit of Holy Spirit, provides a protection from enemy invasion in all areas of my life.

For me, perseverance (patience) has been a big one.  Holy Spirit helps me to have patience for people and perseverance or endurance through circumstances.  This is needed to be able to keep going and be obedient to God no matter what the circumstances are, no matter what comes at me!  I am reminded of Ro 5:3-4, ‘And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope’.  It’s wonderful to know that God wants to produce perseverance, character and hope from very difficult and challenging circumstances in my life.

I shared in a previous blog titled ‘Fear the Lord!  Trust Him!’ that for the past year I have been in the Word of God reading, studying and praying through the scriptures regarding the fear of the Lord.  I have come to understand that the fear of the Lord is the Reverence, terror, awe and respect that belongs to God alone.  Godliness is fear of the Lord (reverence) manifested in actions or living according to God’s will and way.  I desire to grow in godliness, to allow the fear of the Lord to cause me to act according to God’s will and way.

When I ask Holy Spirit who He wants me to extend brotherly kindness to, He always puts someone on my heart.  If I am obedient to do what He says, it’s amazing what happens!  There is such a joy in blessing others with kindness.

Finally, we are to add to our faith, LOVE.  Paul encourages us in 1 Co 13:13 to abide in faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.  I am reminded that without love, none of the above really means anything.  Most people know about 1 Co 13:4-8 which describes God’s agape love.  I am often reminded to also read 1 Co 13:1-3.  Without love I am sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  Without love, I am nothing or profit nothing.

I will end with the verse I desire to live daily. 

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  Ro 5:5 NKJ

 

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches...” Rev 2:7