Again, another chapter in giving us some perspective on what growth looks like in our spiritual life. We spend a lot of time considering the physical development as new parents. What a baby looks like in the womb at each stage, norms of growth for the first few years etc… There is something familiar enough about it for everyone that book after book can be published. So it is with our spiritual journey, much of this has order and predictability, but you have to really pay attention to see it.
Much of the work of the beginning of this has to do with God. His seeking after us, His death, burial, and resurrection that makes a way for us to be reconciled to Him. But there are parts that are specific to us, our recognition of a need for salvation, our repentance, our turning from a life lived my way to a life lived His way.
While the salvation moment is a reflection of God’s work to benefit us, there is the ongoing work of sanctification where we live in some work that belongs to us. 2 Peter invites us to “make every effort.” which is a different line than “make minimal effort”, or “don’t really bother, it’s not that important.” 2 Peter 1:5-7 puts them out there in some sort of order or steps we keep taking.
We are instructed to add to our faith…
Virtue: Training ourselves to do the good that God instructs. Add to that…
Knowledge: We aren’t inclined to know or do the right thing. These are things we have to learn. I never had to teach my kids any vices. They learned to be selfish all by themselves. We have a journey to learn a new way. Add to that…
Self-Control: Knowing that I ought not lie is not the same as not lying. So, when I come into some new knowledge about how God invites us to live life, it becomes important for me to have the self-control (fruit of the Spirit) to not do the thing I know not to do. Add to that…
Perseverance: Not only is my life to exhibit self-control once or twice but to persevere in self-control. Add to that….
Godliness: These new things become so deeply ingrained is us, that we begin to simply live in a reflection of the character of God. Add to that…
Brotherly Kindness: The result of choosing God’s way over and over again means we begin to see the world around us in a different way. It begins to alter our interactions with others. The three-year-old who couldn’t imagine sharing a toy can become an older person who can give their toy and many toys away as a blessing to others. Add to that…
Agape Love: The kind of love that characterizes God himself, giving his life as a ransom for many.
I think this is a journey we repeat over and over as God continues His refining work in us. Some issue in our life works toward being yielded to Christ. Living closer to light that light reveals a new knowledge that steps through the list above. God in his grace reveals a few things to us at a time otherwise I think we would be so overwhelmed we wouldn’t know how to handle it. But the gentle shepherd he is continues to move us to another green pasture and so we learn to be more in love with Him than the pasture we’re on (that seems like a great sermon too!!).
Truth, Grace, and Time 