2 Peter 1:5-8 (KJV): "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Sandi had been a believer for many years, but her knowledge of God didn’t seem to be fruitful in her life. She was still sickly like all her unbeliever relatives, still living a life of fear like them, and still miserable from demonic assaults like them. Even though Sandi knew the Lord, her knowledge of God was not fruitful in her life because after attempting to add virtue to her faith, she didn’t add knowledge but stopped at the point of virtue. Unfortunately, because she didn’t add knowledge to her faith, she was a very ignorant, shallow-minded believer who criticized other believers who sought to add knowledge. She didn’t have depth in spiritual understanding even though she thought she did.
We see in today's Bible verse that it is if we add virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity to our faith that our knowledge of God would be fruitful. Many believers have lived fruitless lives because they did not strive towards maturity in their walk with the Lord.
Adding the aforementioned virtues to your faith has to be intentional and deliberate. That’s why there is a need for us to be told in today's verses. A time would come that you will have to determine to be good and kind to even people who don’t deserve it because you want to add goodness (virtue) to your faith. A time would come that you would determine to download sermons, buy books and read them, etc., because you want to add knowledge to your faith. A time would come that because you want to train yourself in the virtue of temperance (self-control), you will set regular schedules of fasting and prayer. A time would come that because you want to excel in the virtue of patience, you would determine for a season to stop asking God for pressing needs but to only give thanks and patiently wait for Him. A time would come that you would determine to talk less and be more committed to keeping your word because you want to excel in the virtue of godliness. A time would come that you would plan the needs of your Christian brethren into your budget because you want to excel in the virtue of brotherly kindness. A time would come that you would budget for giving to the less privileged, the orphans, the widows, etc., because you want to excel in the virtue of charity. That’s how to be deliberate in adding these virtues to your faith.
The Lord is telling us today that if we add these virtues to our faith, they would make us neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (see 2 Peter 1:8).
Go into today determined to consciously add these virtues to your faith. They are like fertilizer that ensures the fruitfulness of your faith.
Prayer: Lord, help me to consciously add these virtues to my faith and live a fruitful life. Amen.
—Abraham Damilola Arigi
Bible In 1 Year: Proverbs 8-9 (in today's audio)
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