Do you want to grow?
Do you want to grow as a believer, be fruitful and please the Lord? It’s about faith in the promises in His Word and a character which flows from a dependence on the Holy Spirit. That will also give you a heart to serve the Lord and bless others. The Word of God is often described in scripture as food which we need to nourish and grow.
1 Peter 2:2
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
Peter provides a pathway of steps for growth in 2 Peter 1:3-10 and it is well worth reading and meditating on this passage.
Peter’s steps for Christian growth.
Peter’s pathway has a clear purpose: 2 Peter 1:10-11
- Not stumbling in our faith
- Receiving a rich welcome into God’s kingdom
He goes as far as saying, that if you don’t follow this path, then you are near-sighted and blind which is pretty shocking and should encourage us forward.
2 Peter 1:8-9
8 ……they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
Everything is provided
2 Peter 1:3-4
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
God has provided everything we need. Do you know his promises to you? One of them is that He will resurrect us to eternal life with a new body. (1 Corinthians 6:14) Another promise is that He will forgive and cleanse us. (1 John 1:9). And another is that He would give us His Holy Spirit as our helper. (John 14:26) There are many promises and it is good to search them out and get to know them.
Build step upon step
Peter’s pathway of steps adds principal to principal and it would be wise for us to follow them.
2 Peter 1:5-7 (NIV)
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
| Step | Description | |
| 1 | Goodness (Excellence) | Aim to do things well, to be trustworthy and reliable. If you say you will do something, then do it. This should really be our heart in everything we do at home, work or church. |
| 2 | Knowledge | While Paul said that knowledge puffs up in 1 Corinthians 8:1, it cannot be read in isolation of Proverbs 1:22 where the Lord asks: “How long will fools hate knowledge?” or 2 Corinthians 8:7 where Paul commends knowledge. If knowledge is the goal, then you have a pride problem, but Love is the goal of the believer - 1 Timothy 1:5. We need to build our knowledge of the scriptures and also build a personal knowledge of God himself. 2 Peter 3:18 |
| 3 | Self-control | A lack of self-control is unfortunately, a recipe for sin, and we all have some area in our life where we struggle with self-control. Self-control is developed in our character over time. It is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22 |
| 4 | Perseverance | We all face trials in life. Either we persevere through them or fall under them. Perseverance is difficult without self-control and so you can see why Peter speaks of these steps as being incremental. James 1:3-4 tells us two key things about perseverance • Testing circumstances build perseverance • Perseverance leads to perfection |
| 5 | Godliness | To grow in godliness, we need aim to do things well (excellence), to be knowledgeable about our faith, and to have learned self-control and perseverance. Then we are in a place where we can more effectively build godliness. Did you notice that in 2 Peter 1:3 it’s the divine power of the Lord that enables us to live a godly life. The Christian life is always lived on the strength of the in dwelling Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22 |
| 6 | Mutual affection | Mutual affection without godliness and self-control could end up being a sin problem and so once again we can see why Peter presented the principals in a specific order Mutual affection in the context of expressions of kindness to one another. This healthy and so important and encouraging so we can build each other up. |
| 7 | Love | Love is always the ultimate goal, remembering that we are talking about God’s love, a giving and holy love. Matthew 22:36-40; 1 Corinthians 13 Obedience is the “Love language” of God. John 14:23. Therefore, if we love Him, we will obey Him. However love of God will now come from a heart that want's to love Him and He will enable us to have this heart. If we have God's love in us we will also have a heart to give to others. |
No one really wants to live their life in an unfruitful manner. You may have thought growth would be about your ministry and so this focus for growth may have surprised you. While we need to work on all 7 areas above, start with excellence in everything you do and then grow your knowledge so visit resources page for ideas.
Outcome
The outcome of walking this path is that we should be more effective and productive in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, we probably want the gifts and the ministry, but this comes through an increasingly faithful walk with the Lord.
2 Peter 1:8
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Every day is an opportunity to serve
Of course, growing in our faith is an ongoing journey, so do not wait until you “feel ready” before you get out and serve. Every day is a day where you can do something for the Lord, develop your gifts and honor God with your life. God has made us to love and experience the richness of a relationship with Him. We experience that in reaching out in service to others.
Next Steps
How motivated are you to follow this path? Pray about these things regularly and ask the Lord to work in your life in each of the areas.