Am I Successful? (2 Peter 1:3-11)

I’m assuming when everyone woke up this morning, they had to a goal to come to church clean, so most of you took a shower and came to church clean today. By the looks of it, you all succeeded. (I hope)

However, we all know that the idea of being successful is not that simple. If I were to ask the congregation to raise their hand if they believed they were successful, what do you think would happen? A lot of looking around. Pausing. Hesitation. Fear. You all succeeded at something today, but it’s hard to identify as successful.

Depending on culture, success might look different. If you grew up in America, success might mean moving out by 18, and having a part time job, and your own car.

If you grew up in an Asian-American family, it might mean going to a prestigious university, or having a certain amount of digits in your salary.

Success is a loaded word that provokes a wide array of emotions.

Sometimes it’s positive. For some of us, we might’ve had a win recently, and we’re feeling successful, but the feeling is often temporary. We get what we want, and we feel successful until we want something else.

If you wanted a promotion, and you got a promotion, you’re going to feel successful until you realize you want another.

On the flip side, most negative emotions come from a lack of success.

Think about it. What makes us angry? Anger comes when something blocks us from succeeding at a goal.

You wanted to get to the work on time. That’s your goal. You wake up early, make breakfast, do everything in your control, but then you get stuck in traffic. Your goal was blocked, success wasn’t met, and now you’re angry.

What makes us anxious? Anxiety comes when success becomes unclear.

Your goal is to buy a house. You save up, but you don’t know if you’re saving enough. The market keeps changing. Your goal isn’t blocked, but it’s confusing. You’re anxious.

Depression, anxiety, fear, you name it. Most negative emotions are rooted in us failing to succeed at our goals.

So how do we avoid this?

The problem is not that we don’t understand how to succeed. That part is simple. The problem is, we don’t know how to set our goals properly. We set temporary goals in a temporary realm, and put our heart in things that are out of our control, instead of in the hands of the One in complete control.

If I were to ask you, “What should be the primary goal of every believer?”, what would we say?

Some might say, “To get to heaven”. If that were the case, we should all die the second we put our faith in Christ, and there would be no point in living after salvation.

Some might say, “To lead everyone to Christ”. That’s a great desire, but it’s not one we have much control over. Since God calls some to plant, some to water, and He gives the increase, that would be an unfair expectation.

Some might say, “Avoid sin. Don’t smoke, cuss, chew, or hang with those who do!”. Also a good desire, but still not a healthy goal.

So, what is the primary goal? What is the key to success for the believer?

Stand in reverence to God’s Word. Read 3-4

Catch that phrase in verse 4? “Partakers of the divine nature”. What is the end result of every believer? To become like Christ! What should be the ultimate goal of every living believer? To become more like Christ. To be transformed from the old flesh, to a new creature in Christ.

Romans 8:29 KJV 1900

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Paul even says to the church of Galatia, that life of the believer is not from birth to death, but second birth until we become like Christ.

Galatians 4:19 KJV 1900

My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

This is the goal, but now the question is, how do we accomplish it? How can we feel successful, knowing that God has put such a daunting task ahead of us. That’s what were going to talk about this morning.

With the rest of our time, we’re going to look at three truths regarding success in a message we’ve entitled “Am I Successful?”

Opening Prayer.

2 Peter 1:3 (KJV 1900)

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness...

1. The Master’s Promise

Before we get any further, let’s make one thing clear. The purpose of this message is not to leave us feeling challenged or overwhelmed; worried about how to achieve success. Instead, it is to encourage us with God’s promise, that our success is already being worked out for us. What ought to be our greatest goal in life, He’s already working on!

First of all, this verse tells us that we already have all of the resources necessary for “success”, given by the author of success.

This would be as if I were an athlete, and my goal in life to was to be like LeBron James. That would be a daunting task, but the greatest resource I could ever hope for, is if LeBron James himself promised to live in my home with me, 24/7, doing everything he can, and equipping me with every resource I needed to play like him. Every work out. Every diet plan. Every drill.

Imagine if I had that resource! It wouldn’t happen over night. It wouldn’t be easy. I would struggle. He might be tempted to give up on me, but if he promised to do all of that, in time, any of us could eventually play like him.

We wonder, “How can we possibly become like Christ?”. Maybe we feel like we’re “too sinful”. “Too human”. “Too far from God”.

If you’re a believer, Christ Himself, the greatest resource we could ask for, has already promised to dwell within us, and mold us to become more like Him.

Isaiah 64:8 KJV 1900

But now, O Lord, thou art our father; We are the clay, and thou our potter; And we all are the work of thy hand.

If you’re feeling like you don’t have enough this morning, take confidence knowing that you do. The one thing that means the most in your life, God has already given you every resource you need to achieve.

God has already promised to do in you, the one thing we should desire the most.

That’s the way God works. Everything is by grace. He doesn’t ask anything of us that He doesn’t prepare Himself.

If God’s greatest goal for us to own a home, He would be the one to build it.

If God’s greatest goal for us was to be educated, He would be the teacher.

God says our greatest goal is to be like Him, and He’s the one molding us!

2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV 1900

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

We are changed by the Spirit of God. That’s the master’s promise.

So we’ve established that success comes from our transformation, becoming more like Christ, and that becoming more like Christ only comes through the work and grace of Jesus Christ.

That leaves us wondering, what do we strive for then? What does our free will allow us to control?

2 Peter 1:5–7 (KJV 1900)

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.

2. Man’s Priority

There’s a few words to highlight here, one being diligence. Diligence simply means full effort. Here’s where our effort comes into the picture.

First of all, Peter says to add to our FAITH. Stop here. Check this out. Everything we do must first be rooted in faith. Without faith, nothing else we do matters. Without faith, we do not believe we are successful, therefore, we cannot succeed.

Matthew Henry says that it is “Faith (that) unites the weak believer to Christ, as really as it does the strong one, and purifies the heart of one as truly as of another; and every sincere believer is by his faith justified in the sight of God. Faith worketh godliness, and produces effects which no other grace in the soul can do.”

Hebrews 11:1 KJV 1900

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Our responsibility must first begin with FAITH. With us believing God’s promise that He is doing what He said He is doing.

That means even when we don’t feel like we’re becoming like Christ, we believe He is working.

When we make mistakes and stumble, we believe He is working.

No matter how it seems, how it feels, how much we struggle, we must chose to believe that God is still working, and molding us in His image.

John 13:7 KJV 1900

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

God’s desire to mold us is directly rooted in our faith that He is doing it.

It was once said that faith in Christ is like a chair. It’s easy to desire for a chair to hold you. It’s also easy to believe that a chair can hold your weight. The only thing stopping that chair from fulfilling it’s intended purpose, is if you don’t believe in it enough to fully sit down.

If we desire for God to mold us, we just first have faith He is able, and He is active.

Next, Peter says to add to your faith, VIRTUE.

The Greek word for Virtue is also translated to mean “excellence in character”.

As a believer, God expects you to add to your faith a sense of integrity. A desire to do the right thing. This does not mean “perfection”, but an effort and desire.

Show me a Christian who sins, I’ll show you a growing Christian. Show me a Christian who has no desire to stop sinning, and I’ll show you a liar.

Next, Peter says to add knowledge. This refers to informational knowledge. It’s impossible to believe what we do not first know. Knowledge and faith must go hand in hand. The more we believe God is working in us, the more we ought to learn about how He is doing that, and the more we learn, the more He works! It’s a cycle.

We have to break the mentality that just because we’ve reached a certain age, or formed certain opinions on how the world is supposed to run, that we’re done learning! Even Jesus grew in wisdom.

Luke 2:52 KJV 1900

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Success isn’t about what you’ve done. It’s about what you know and believe.

Peter then says to add to knowledge temperance.

This means self control. The more we learn about God, the more we should desire to do what He loves, and abstain from what He hates.

Then Peter says to add “patience”.

You need patience to grow, because growth is slow!

Romans 8:25 KJV 1900

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

To patience, we add Godliness. This means that as we learn what it means to be like Christ, we follow through.

We learn that Christ was forgiving. Be forgiving.

We learn that Christ was meek. Be meek.

1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV 1900

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Next we add to Godliness, brotherly love. Phileo love in Greek. For years, when I thought of Phileo love, I thought of the city of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. Then when I thought of the city of Philadelphia, I thought about the actor Will Smith, who in West Philadelphia was born and raised.

After what he did last week, I no longer think of him that way. That’s the opposite of brotherly love!

To be like Christ, we show brotherly love to our community, then beyond that, we add charity, or agape love. Family love.

That’s what Friend Day was all about. We started with brotherly love. We made friends. We exchanged phone numbers and invited people to church, and they came. Now we’re scheduling meet ups, and hang outs. The next step, is family love!

When you’re here, you’re family. That means we love each other, not just enough to refrain from slapping each other, but to bear each others burdens, seek out each other’s well being, and serve one another.

Now, that was a long list of things God expects us to contribute to the process of becoming more like Christ, but looking at this list, where else in Scripture do we see these qualities?

Galatians 5:22–23 KJV 1900

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

The Fruit of the Spirit! These are the qualities that come naturally to believers, as we abide in Christ. As long as we keep believing, and staying plugged into Jesus, we don’t have to get frustrated or try to force these things. These things become natural, just as apples naturally come from an apple tree, these things will naturally grow in you!

One of the most beautiful things I hear as a pastor is when a new believer tells me, “Pastor, I know this might sound crazy, but I’m different now! Ever since I got saved, I’m suddenly nicer! I’m more patient with my wife! I get into less fights. I stopped smoking or cheating. I don’t know what I’m doing different, but I’m changing”.

That’s because it’s the fruit of the spirit! But fruit doesn’t grow over night. Sometimes it takes longer for some Christians than others. It’s a process.

3. The Maturing Process

2 Peter 1:8 KJV 1900

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.

It’s as simple as this. If you’re learning, you’re growing, and if we’re growing, we’re succeeding. We’re accomplishing the task we were set on Earth to do.

If you’re exhibiting the fruit of the spirit, then awesome! You’re doing it! You’re becoming more like Christ.

But how about it we don’t always exhibit the fruit of the spirit? How about when we still pop off at the mouth, and forget brotherly love and temperance?

You sinned. Did you recognize it? Did you repent? Are you even slightly less likely to do it again? Then you’re still growing! The beautiful thing about grace is that we grow in our failures.

As a matter of fact, a pastor friend of mine once told me, when you’re abiding in Christ, there’s no such thing as failure. Only growing moments.

We get so frustrated that we’re still not perfect. Don’t be! The frustration doesn’t help! Take comfort in that you’re growing.

Sometimes we look at our spiritual lens through the limited perspective of “good or bad”.

Someone asks you, “How’s your spiritual life?”, and we either say, “Good” or “Bad”, and since we’re often ashamed to say “Good”, we often say “Bad”.

But think about it. How can the spiritual life of a Child of God possibly be “bad”?!

You forgot to read your Bible? You looked at something you shouldn’t have? You felt “far from God” that week?

If you recognized any of those things, then it was the Holy Spirit that brought it to your attention. You’re not “bad”. You’re growing!

When I think about growth, I can’t help but picture my son. He’s 10 months old. Last month he learned to crawl. Now he’s learning to walk. You want to know what breaks my heart as a father? What drives me crazy?

Not the fact that he struggled to crawl, or struggles to walk. What hurt me was how frustrated he would get in the process! I remember he would wobble and shake, and try to figure out how to move, then fall on the ground. That part was okay! He’s my son! He’s allowed to fall! I’ll always pick him up when he falls!

What broke my heart was the way he would pound his fists, smack his face, and cry at 3 AM, because he wasn’t there yet.

I just wished my son was old enough for me to say, “Son! It’s okay! You’re doing great! I’m proud of you! You’re going to get there eventually, and I’m always going to be here to guide you through!”

My son isn’t old enough to understand that yet, but you are. You understand it, and that’s exactly what God is trying to tell you and I today.

We come here saying we don’t feel successful. Why not? Did God retract His promise? Are we no longer masterpieces in the making? Of course we are. That’s why we are successful, and God wants us to lift our chin up high, and believe that.

But what if you feel like you haven’t made any progress? What if you feel like no matter how you try, you see no growth, nor a desire to grow.

2 Peter 1:9 KJV 1900

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

If we’re not growing, it either means either one of two things.

a. You’re not saved.

This means you’ve never officially begun your relationship with God. You haven’t been born again. If that’s you, it’s okay. That’s exactly why God brought you here today, because in a moment, you’re going to have an opportunity to learn more about how you can give your life to Jesus and ask Him into your heart.

b. We FORGOT about our forgiveness.

While we don’t believe in losing salvation, we do know that we’re capable of losing love. Like an old married couple, we lose passion. We forget why we fell in love in the first place.

That’s what happens when we forget about what Jesus did for us when He saved us. When He saved you, He forgave you. He took you in as an enemy, and adopted you into His family.

Imagine if a father in Ukraine, saw a Russian solider come into his land, enter his home, and kill his family members. Then as the Russian soldier turned to the father, he ran out of ammo, dropped his gun, raised his hands, and surrendered. Now imagine if that father, then take that enemy combatant, and not only forgave him, showed mercy to not execute him, but then adopted him as his own child.

As ridiculous as that sounds, that’s what Christ did for you.

Romans 5:10 KJV 1900

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

If you don’t feel like you’re growing, meditate on what sparked your spiritual life in the first place. Meditate on the cross.

As we rekindle our memory of our forgiveness, we rekindle the process of our transformation, and as long as we’re in the process, we are successful.

Stop measuring success by dollars, positions, work hours, or compliments. Measure success the way Christ measures success. The way a Father measures success. If your Father has declared you successful, don’t doubt it. Live in it.

Live boldly. Live confidently. Live faithfully. Live victoriously.

CLOSE IN PRAYER

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