Make every effort to supplement your faith

Pastor Joaquin

2 Peter 1:3-11

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. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 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. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

While God gives us the ability to become godly, it is our responsibility to use the power he has made available to us and work at becoming people who please God in every phase of life. God has called us to live fruitful lives that produce a heavenly harvest

You don’t have to do these things. You get to. You get to do these things to help you escape the corruption from this world and its sinful desires. You get to do these things to help prevent you from falling in the future.

In verse eight, he implies that they already “possess“ these virtues. Indeed, as we have seen, many are gifts of the spirit that are present to some degree in all Christians. No, we must not be content, Peter suggests , with a B minus in “goodness“ or “knowledge“ or “self-control“ or “godliness“ or “brotherly kindness“ or “love“. We should not be content until we have an A+ in each one.

You have already been given all the power you need. We see moments of greatness in our lives where this is true. But we still face lows and setbacks. Meaningful pursuit of the qualities listed minimizes those lows and helps produce more fruitful and godly lives.

He gives us the seeds to plant 

We must uproot the terrain

Sow as many seeds as possible

Water and nurture the growth

Reap the harvest

Ask God/leaders/friends/people to grade you on 

those areas and start working on one at a time. 

Think of ways to use your strength more 

Commit to increasing your capacity

Gather a group to take on new challenges