New? January 18 Devotional
January 18, 2025
2 PETER 1:5-7 | 5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.
Faith is a gift from God, but character must be worked out in stresses and strains of our daily struggles. The Scottish biblical scholar, James Moffatt once remarked: “The Christian life must not be an initial spasm followed by a chronic inertia.” In these verses Peter gives us a catalogue of characteristics that should flow from genuine faith. He is describing the divine nature when it begins to take shape in us. It begins with faith, the ability to trust in Christ’s promises. Then this will issue in acts of goodness, effective and excellent deeds for God. Our practical knowledge will grow, as we apply divinely given wisdom to actual problems. So will our capacity for self-mastery, as we get a grip on our tendency to be reactive or act unthinkingly. Our endurance quotient will rise, giving us patience under prolonged trial. There will be a deeper sense of God’s presence, of godliness, in our relationships.
Moreover these will not be lonely virtues, not isolated excellences, but rather will be social graces, increasing our ability to love and care for others and promote their welfare.
Which one of these characteristics do you most want to grow in?
Gracious God,
Awaken in us a desire to grow in virtue and character, living more fully into your divine nature.
Amen.
