Proclamation:
"His divine power has given us
everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who
called us by His own glory and goodness. Through
these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that
through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the
corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For
this very 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 1:3-8 (NIV)
Explanation:
These are the words of the Apostle Peter,
inspired by The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the early church to
counter the false teachers who were infiltrating the church. Peter told
them that God had given them the power escape the corruption caused by evil
desires and evil influences. He told them that they must make every
effort to exercise their faith. By doing so, they would increase their
faith and produce more fruit of The Spirit of God.
Application:
Today we need to realize that The Lord has blessed us and
given us a small portion of His divine power. We have The Holy Spirit of
God dwelling within us, and that makes us capable of exhibiting the fruit of
The Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) As believers, we ought to exercise these traits and increase
them within our lives and in our behavior. As we exercise them, we
become stronger in the faith and demonstrate more Christ-like behavior and thereby
we become more effective and productive in our efforts for The Lord.
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