The Third and last installment of my Interpretation of what I believe to be key to developing as a christian. I pull direction straight from the bible, here is the quote again. "For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 5-8
I have completed quick researches of the key words in the bible, and certainly there are other quotes of scripture to explain the qualities talked about by Peter. Persevere to do research, add to your knowledge, and grow in the name of the Lord. The last of these qualities are godliness(little "g"), brotherly kindness, and love. For godliness we can really get in to some debate, for we should never place ourselves equal to God, nor above our fellow man/woman. I think that we should not focus on developing perfection. However, we should walk our christian walk as Jesus and to the best of our ability. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. That doesn't mean that we should just give up and not try. We wash our cars because they get dirty, knowing that they will get dirty again and need to be rewashed. The same goes for many things in our life, our houses, our bodies, our animals. This is true of our spiritual selves as well. As we try to live godly lives we sin, (get dirty) and need to be washed (forgiven) over and over. We learn the basics of what sin is and hopefully we develop and learn to not repeat them, as we grow we notice other nuances in life that the Holy Spirit draws our attention to and labels as sin. Godly is defined as conforming to the laws and wishes of God, it does not mean placing ourselves up on a pedestal and acting better than anyone else. If therefore, you are conforming to the laws and wishes of God, then you will be working on brotherly kindness. Brotherly kindness I believe is going through this short life of ours and paying attention to others. I drive my family absolutely nuts, talking to strangers all the time. How else are you suppose to give brotherly kindness unless your paying attention to your brother? If he has fallen, help him up, if she is struggling offer a helping hand. Just go through life not with your head down racing to the finish line, but with your eyes open, looking, watching. Then there's love. John instructs, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." 1John 4:7 Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" John 13:34 Stearn warnings from the bible if you do not abide by this principle, "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." 1John 4:20
All these principles that are talked about by Peter are guidelines we should instill in all our lives. I want to add to them in increasing measure every day of my life. I am not a perfect person, far from it in fact. I sin daily, I trip, I fall, I get back up and keep on going. It is imperative that we do not quit! For even as Jesus carried the cross and stumble he kept going, and he was headed to death! We can have peace and joy here on Earth. Upon receiving it though, we need to spread it out to others, "Give as freely as you have received!" Matthew 10:8. If we try to simple things everyday to improve upon them, we can't help but add them in increasing measure. Personally I want to walk my walk closer to God, he's got AWESOME plans for all of us. Have a wonderful Easter and may we all be renewed in the spirit as we delve deeper into our lives.
Thanks for letting me put thought to blog, and thanks for reading.
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