Applying All Diligence

"Now for this very reason, 

applying all diligence

in your faith supply moral excellence,

 and in your moral excellence, knowledge,

and in your knowledge, self-control, 

and in your self-control, perseverance,

and in your perseverance, godliness,

and in your godliness, brotherly kindness,

and in your brotherly kindness, love."

2 Peter 1:5-7 

Our salvation was effortless - God did it all, from drawing us to Himself to raising us to life and then gifting us with faith.  We should never, however, be comfortable with where we are at in our spiritual growth - in our transformation into Christ-likeness.  Our walk is to be effort-full, applying all diligence, we are to be making maximum effort.  We are to go all out alongside of what God has done for us.  

Faith is at the core of our salvation.  The ability to believe and obey God, no matter how we feel.  To our gift of faith we are to supply moral excellence, or goodness.  With Jesus now living in us, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to live lives of goodness, and we can, because sin's power and grip has been broken.  Perhaps we pursued goodness before Christ, but it would have been for the wrong motives.  Perhaps it was to make us look good, or to gain favor with God thinking this would allow us entrance into heaven.  After salvation, our motives completely change.  Now we are pursuing goodness for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ, because we love Him for paying the price for our sin, for rescuing us from the kingdom of Satan.

We are to supplement moral excellence with knowledge.  This requires spending time in the Word.  Without time in the Word, we will not gain an understanding of the truths of who God is and the truths of how we can live our lives in a way that glorifies Him.  It takes effort to be in the Word.  Maybe we need to find the off button on the cable remote.  Or perhaps Facebook or real time with friends has consumed us and we have been completely neglecting time with our very Best Friend.  Set aside some time for real, deep study and then really go at it.  Find out who God is, what His plans are, what He desires, what pleases Him.  Make your study time about gleaning relational truths as well as application truths.  The rewards and blessings are tremendous!

We supplement knowledge with self-control.  Before Christ, we lived by our passions and the flesh.  Now that Christ dwells in us, we are to reign our passions in.  We are to no longer allow ourselves to be controlled by them, and we can hold it in.  We've lavishly been supplied all things pertaining to life and godliness, including exercising self-control.  For me, eating with self-control is one of my battlegrounds.  Goodness, guided by knowledge (truth and insight from God's Word), disciplines desire and makes it the servant, not the master of one's life.  I am growing in the area of disciplined eating.  It is ok to enjoy a chocolate chip cookie every now and then.  Not just six at a time - at least for me!  What area do you need to grow in self-control?  Spend time in the Word studying it and memorizing it and find your self-control gaining traction.  

To self-control, we are to add perseverance.  To persevere is to endure in doing what is right, under adversity.  It is to have staying power.  The Lord desires staying power in our self-control.  Do you see how these qualities build on each other?  Self-control of course is not the only area in which we are to persevere, or endure.  If I were to ask you where you needed staying power, I bet something very quickly would come to your mind.  We all have those areas.  Perhaps you are in a difficult marriage.  The Lord wants you to persevere in it and you can.  You can even flourish in a difficult marriage.  You can rejoice in the Lord, while in a difficult marriage.  When you have spent time in the Word, drinking in the worth and character and love of Jesus, you will persevere.  The Word is where we draw our persevering, enduring strength, in all things.  The more we are in the Word, the greater will be our perseverance, our staying power.

We are to supplement our perseverance with godliness.  The godly person is devoted to the glory of God.  The godly person desires God Himself.  The godly person manifests the character of Jesus. 

To godliness, we supply brotherly kindness.  This is to have a concern for others.  To care about others.  And finally, our concern for others, moves to full blown love, putting others before ourselves.    

All of these qualities are to be increasing (verse 8).  Moral excellence.  Knowledge.  Self-control.  Perseverance.  Godliness.  Brotherly kindness.  Love.  There is to be a growth in grace.  Goodness should flow from us more than it did five years ago - if we have been in Christ for five years.  We should know Jesus and the truths of His Word more.  Our self-control should be more consistent.  Our endurance should come in longer stretches.  Would someone say you are godly?  Are you more concerned about others than you were five years ago?  Are you better at dying to self now than you were five years ago?  

What do we do if we have gotten lazy?  Repent.  Confess the sin.  Get back to maximum effort.  Jesus hasn't stopped loving us when we become complacent, indifferent.  He never will.  He hasn't stopped thinking about us when we stop thinking about Him.  His thoughts are always on us.  His treasuring of us never ends.  Why do we obey God's Word, with all diligence?  For this very reason - because of the truths in verses 3 and 4.  I'll let you look them up.  We cannot be indifferent to what we've been given, to what God has done for us.  We must not be indifferent to out of what we have been rescued.  The Christian life does not honor God without effort and our maximum effort is because of the character and worth and blessings and promises of God.  We go all out because Jesus is worthy of it.