Fruitful growth in the Faith Part 1
2 Peter 1 verses 5 to 8 - NLT "So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The Passion Translation, (titled – Faith's ladder of Virtue) –"so devote yourselves to lavishly supplementing your faith with goodness, and to goodness add understanding, and to understanding add the strength of self-control, and to self-control add patient endurance, and to patient endurance add godliness, and to godliness add mercy towards your brothers and sisters, and to mercy towards others add unending love. Since these virtues are already planted deep within, and you possess them in abundant supply, they will keep you from being inactive or fruitless in your pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ more intimately."
These virtues sound a lot like the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23 which we have been looking at over the last several weeks. Verse 8 TPT says, "these virtues are already planted deep within", and "you possess them in abundant supply".
I find this so encouraging. Our Lord and Friend is so good. 2 Peter 1 verse 3 says "everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited in us by His Divine power". How gracious is our God! Let's yield to the Holy Spirit in us, Who will cause our lives to be fruitful.
"May grace and perfect peace cascade over you as you live in the rich knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord".
Kath
NLT New Living Translation
TPT The Passion Translation
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