Dear sister, sometimes life can distract us, right? Sometimes we get so weighed down by the number of to-do’s on our list, that we lose sight of our daily disciplines. In our haste or impatience, we forget how we are to act. We forget how to respond to people. We forget where we should be focusing our time.
We lose sight of how to properly do life.
As we talked about in Part 1 of this series, the Bible is chock full of knowledge for us— about God, how to live life, and how to conduct ourselves as Christians.
But head knowledge isn’t the only thing God wants us to have. He desires for us to walk worthy of our calling, and walk in our newness of life as believers.
So, welcome to Part 2 of Spiritual Life Skills We Learn from Peter. This time we’ll dive into 2 Peter 1:5-10; but before we get to the practicality, let's look at a few promises at the beginning of the epistle.
Biblical truths in 2 Peter 1: 3-4
To understand why these practical skills are so important, and how we’re able to walk them out, allow me to first remind you of a few truths we see in these verses:
“…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.””
First, you need knowledge of the Lord.
Obtaining knowledge of the Lord comes through reading the Word, praying, fellowship, and spending time with Him. You must experience Him yourself, just as you would in any other relationship you have.
the Knowledge of God empowers you.
Through the knowledge of the Lord, His divine power gives you all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Absolutely everything you need to know and possess to live a godly life, fully pleasing to Him, is accessible and obtainable to you.
Understand that it’s by His excellent power.
We see in verse 3 that it is not a working of you; instead, it’s by “His glory and virtue.” Because this is who God is— He called you. Hallelujah. But not only does He call you (and that would be enough!), but He also gives you exceedingly great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4). If there is any doubt, remember that God’s Word is always true and steadfast; therefore, you can rely on His promises!
You are a partaker of His divine nature.
Through His exceedingly great and precious promises, He allows you to be a partaker of His divine nature. Through your sanctification, as He’s working in you, you have the ability to become more and more like Christ.
A Woman Living on Purpose
Here comes the practical part. This promise and privilege are where the rubber meets the road. It is here where you need to allow God to work through you so you can do life properly— on purpose, if you will.
It’s not enough to just know that He calls you a daughter and heir. How are you walking in that? Are you being a light in the world, reflecting Him? Are you a good steward of this promise?
Let’s start with our faith in God.
2 Peter 1:5-10 then tells us how we’re to live as partakers of the divine nature and heirs of the King of kings. We start with one skill or characteristic, then continue to add more to the pot.
But, the foundation of the recipe is faith.
This is our faith— our saving faith. Our faith in God as the One true God. Our faith in Christ, that through the power of His death and resurrection we have eternal life.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…”
Our faith:
Allows us to believe the things the Lord has done, and believe Him for what He promises He will do (Matthew 17:20).
Yields trust in Him (Mark 4:40).
Impacts the world when we share it (Romans 1:8).
Our faith in Christ brings forth our righteousness (Philippians 3:9).
Our faith in God establishes us in our Christian walk. It’s what puts our feet on solid ground because our foundation is in Christ, and therefore we are in right standing with God. So then, through this establishment of faith, we can walk worthy of our calling.
The following 7 Spiritual Life Skills found in 2 Peter 1:5-10 are several of the ingredients when added and mixed with our faith, that help us to walk worthy:
#1: Be virtuous in all you do.
Our conduct should be set apart from the world’s.
What is virtue?
Virtue means “a virtuous course of thought, feeling or action; moral goodness.”
The word “virtue” in verse 5 is the same word we see in verse 3. It refers to God’s moral goodness or excellence in His power. Because we are partakers of His divine nature, His moral goodness should show up in our lives.
We can ask ourselves— Are our thoughts virtuous, right, and moral (Philippians 4:8)?
As believers, we should have overall moral goodness infused in our daily lives. If so, it will be evident in how we treat those inside and outside of our homes.
#2: Grow in your knowledge of God.
Deeper knowledge of the Father yields a deeper relationship with Him, and a heart that desires to live virtuously.
what does it mean to grow in the knowledge of God?
The word used for knowledge means, “growing in a deeper way of knowing God; moral wisdom in living.” Again, this isn’t just knowing information for the sake of knowing it— it’s knowledge that gives us a deeper understanding of and intimacy with the Father, and a knowledge that leads to wisdom.
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ”
When we grow in our knowledge of Him, we also gain the power to admonish each other (Romans 15:14).
Not only this, but the world is “counting on us.” As believers, we are to reveal God’s knowledge throughout the world (2 Corinthians 2:14). There are those who may never pick up a Bible, but by your actions— your knowledge on display— you reveal to them the goodness and greatness of God.
#3: Live with self-control.
How to have self-control is one of the greatest lessons we can learn, from childhood to adulthood.
How to have self-control
Self-control means we can master our desires and passions. It is one of the fruit of the Spirit, and hands down one of the hardest things to master in our Christian walk! Undoubtedly, self-control is impossible to master in our own power.
What do we need to control in our lives? Anger, outbursts of wrath, lust, evil desires? Maybe it’s pride or an obsessive need to strive in certain areas of our lives.
The Lord never calls us to be out of control, even as we follow Him. Walking in the Spirit and being sensitive to His promptings is how we can begin to exhibit self-control in our lives.
We gain self-control by yielding our lives to Him, and allowing Him to be in control.
#4: Persevere through trials— the big and small.
Keep on keeping on.
Why is perseverance important?
Perseverance is having patience, endurance, and the ability to wait. It also means we are not able to be moved even during the toughest of trials.
Romans 15:5 tells us that endurance and perseverance are given to us from the Lord.
We need endurance for our Christian walk (Hebrews 12:1) because it’s long, and difficult at times. Trials come our way, and sin tries to entangle us; yet, we cannot give up. This is when we need to wait and trust in the Lord.
In James 1:3, we see that endurance and perseverance are the end result of the testing of our faith, and when we let it have its full effect, we lack nothing.
The world is watching— they are watching to see how you hold up under pressure; under the weight of daily life. What will you do? Will you fold, or will you glorify God as you give them an example of a saint who runs the race set before her, waiting and trusting God ‘til the end?
#5: Godliness should be our apparel.
Our life’s moments should reflect Him, not ourselves.
What is godliness?
Godliness is respect and reverence toward God. This happens by way of our thoughts, actions, and interactions with others. We should be living to the glory of God.
As we already reviewed, through His power, the Lord gives us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness.
Sisters, we must pursue righteousness at every corner, putting off our old ways; fleeing from immorality, and living in the freedom we have in Christ.
“Rather, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. ”
Yes, it takes discipline, self-control, and perseverance to live this way. But, I’ll say it again— by His divine power, He gives us everything we need in order to do so. Therefore, we have no excuse.
#6: Exhibit brotherly kindness.
Generously serve your sisters!
Brotherly love and loving one another
Because God has shown us how to love, we can love one another.
Romans 12:10 calls us to be devoted to one another in brotherly love. This isn’t something that we should do once in a while; no— the Lord calls us to be devoted. We have a responsibility to do good, especially to those in the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).
As we read in Part 1 of this series, the word fervent means “exhibiting or marked by great intensity of feeling.” As we also discussed therein, that passage (1 Peter 4:8) refers to agape love.
The word “love” we’re now discussing in 2 Peter is philadelphia love, or brotherly love– and is the same word we see in 2 Peter 1:22, “Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brothers and sisters, fervently love one another from the heart.”
Whether it is agape love, or brotherly love, we should love one another intensely and sincerely. This should be evident not only in the things we say, but in the things we do.
#7: Exude the strongest form of love.
The last word “love” that we see in 2 Peter 1:7 is agape love.
Read: Part 1: Spiritual Life Skills We Learn from Peter
The progression of this verse is saying that we should show brotherly love and affection to one another, but within that, we should do it in agape love. A strong, genuine, “not expecting anything in return” kind of love that is shown as you love your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Love with an extra helping of love. Are you following, sister?
Why is agape love so important?
Agape love is the same type of love that God demonstrated toward us when He sent Christ to die for us (Romans 5:8).
In this love, we are not hypocritical (Romans 12:9); we are patient and kind.
We are called to do everything in agape love (1 Corinthians 16:14).
Let’s be diligent to let the love of Christ have its full effect in our lives.
Godly Characteristics for the Godly Woman
So, what is a godly woman? Sister, what it all boils down to is our relationship with the Lord. All of these spiritual life skills and godly characteristics lack their true meaning without the Lord working in us and through us to do them.
Through our knowledge of the Lord, we can have the desire to do these things– to put these spiritual life skills into practice. 2 Peter 1:8 says that if we walk out these godly characteristics, we will be fruitful in our knowledge of the Lord; yet, if we choose not to put these traits and skills into action, we will forget that we were cleansed from our old ways.
Putting these skills into action draws us closer to the Lord, allows Him to mold us to be more like Him, and keeps us from stumbling in our walk (2 Peter 1:10).
Sister, you’re a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), so walk in that newness of life! Let go of your old ways.
These godly characteristics and spiritual life skills are just a handful of the numerous traits the Lord calls us to as His daughters. Yet, this isn’t a daunting task– just let the Spirit lead you moment-by-moment, day-by-day as you walk them out one step at a time.
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