Staying on Target (3)
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Ingredients for Life
Ingredients for Life
I don’t consider myself to be a baker, but when I get in the mood, I don’t mind baking. My Mom baked a lot, and mostly by memory, so as the youngest in the house, I got to help with some of the baking, and yes I got to clean the bowl out and lick the beaters.
With certain recipes, the ingredients had to be added in a certain order. Today, we are going to look at certain attributes or ingredients that we need to add to our lives that will keep us from being unfruitful and unproductive.
Let’s read our Scripture today
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, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, 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.
But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Add to your faith
Add to your faith
Other meanings can be supplement or support. When we take supplements, it’s to give us vitamins and minerals that might be lacking. Just as a multi-vitamin brings health to our bodies, these virtues will bring health to us spiritually.
Just as we make choices to take supplements, let’s choose to add these ingredients to our lives.
Add to your faith…Goodness
Add to your faith…Goodness
Goodness = Moral Excellence
Goodness = Moral Excellence
Moral excellence was a virtue that the ancient Greek philosophers sought after. There isn’t much doubt that when Peter was speaking of these virtues, he used words that made sense to his audience.
There can be no moral excellence that has any lasting value outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are called to reflect Jesus in this world.
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
My prayer is that we will become more and more like Jesus.
When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Sometimes I see a dirty face, or bed head. there are times that I see myself with a nice dress shirt and a tie, but when we get below the surface, my prayer is that we will see a reflection, or mirror image of Christ. It’s Christ in you the hope of glory. (Col 1:27)
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.
Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
The word Peter used is only used in two other places in the New Testament. One is 2 Peter 1:3 and the second is:
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
You’ve probably heard the saying, “You are what you eat.”
Do we become what we think about?
We live in a very stressful world. If we allow them to, our thoughts can run wild, but as we take every thought captive and make it be subject to Christ. Instead of letting our thoughts control us, let’s give the Holy Spirit His rightful place, and let Him lead and guide us into all truth.
And to goodness, knowledge
And to goodness, knowledge
Moral excellence should lead us to knowing God more intimately.
Knowledge comes from the Greek word
gnosis
gnosis
An Agnostic is somebody who isn’t an atheist but is someone who doesn’t know if there is a God.
Life Application New Testament Commentary Growing in the Knowledge of God / 1:3–11
here gnosis is that knowledge that leads to wisdom and discernment that enables believers to live godly lives
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Paul’s prayer for the Philippian church was this in
I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.
For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.
My prayer for each of us is that we would know Christ and the power of His resurrection. My prayer is that we would grow in His gtrace and His knowledge. May God reveal to us what really matters. Our lives can be so filled with activities. It can be so filled possessions, and when we look back, we can ask ourselves what was the point?
Solomon was the 3rd king of Israel. He was known as a man of great wisdom, and yet near the end of his life, these were his words.
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.
The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.
Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.
Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
Aren’t you glad today that we can find everything that we need in Christ. Let’s store up treasures in Heaven. When Jesus is all you have, you will find out that He was all your really needed.
And to knowledge, self-control
And to knowledge, self-control
Life Application New Testament Commentary Growing in the Knowledge of God / 1:3–11
Self-control refers to mastery over sinful human desires in every aspect of life.
Self-control is a much longed for virtue. Many people find themselves going from one diet to the next, while others try to quit smoking or some other habit. Others make resolutions to start going to the gym or to exercise more and all too soon for many the resolution is broken.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
The difference between self-effort and self-control is that, self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does an inward work, where self-effort can only change the outside.
An example is Alcoholic’s Anonymous. My Mom’s oldest brother was 35 years sober. Praise the Lord that he had a support group to walk with him. Outwardly he didn’t drink, but he still claimed that he was an alcoholic.
Alcoholic’s Anonymous has done a lot of good for a lot of people, but only the Holy Spirit can change us from the inside out.
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Adding self-control to knowledge is not a place where we can boast. It’s God the Holy Spirit who changes us as we submit our will to His.
So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
And to self-control, perseverance
And to self-control, perseverance
Another word for perseverance is patient endurance.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.
And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
I used to have more endurance when I was daily doing physical work. Many of us need to go for walks and exercise so that we can build up endurance.
Last fall I told you about when Josh and I were running around the track. I timed Josh and then I “ran” around the track. The plan was to run 400 metres. I hadn’t ran around a track since High School.
I hadn’t been working on endurance. I hadn’t played soccer, baseball, or football for years, and was definitely OUT of shape. After about 200 metres, I was really feeling it. After I finally finished, Josh said to me, “It’s okay Dad, when I started running I had to stop too!”
Josh has built up his endurance by running. He has built up his endurance by enduring, persevering even when he doesn’t feel like doing it.
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!
All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
Let’s make this practical. Let’s ask ourselves these questions:
Do I run with purpose in every step?
When life gets hard, and I feel like quitting, do I still run anyways?
When I’m tired and I don’t feel like praying or reading my Bible, do I push through and grow in my relationship with God regardless?
When I feel lazy on a Sunday morning, I don’t feel like showering, and getting out of my PJ’s, do I go tow church anyways?
There might be times that we don’t feel like we are getting anything out of church, maybe we are distracted, maybe we don’t like the music, maybe there is something else going on that is just too important, etc.
I want to look at it a little differently. Maybe you are the answer to somebody else’s prayers. They are going through a hard time and have been asking God to help them.
You decide, “I think I want to go to church today.” Maybe it’s your smile, a kind word, or you feel that you need to pray for that person. As you persevered, God used you to make a difference in somebody’s life.
Don’t give up! Don’t quit!
And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
And to perseverance, godliness
And to perseverance, godliness
Simply put, godliness is “living a life that is like God.”
Schreiner, T. R. (2003). 1, 2 Peter, Jude (Vol. 37, p. 300). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
1, 2 Peter, Jude (2. Pursue a Godly Life Diligently (1:5–7))
or “living the kind of life that pleases God.”
When we go outside of these 4 walls, we become representatives of Jesus Christ.
And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
We have the promise that we have been given everything that we need for a godly life in Christ Jesus and yet we are called to be like Jesus.
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Money cannot buy contentment. Things that we possess might make us happy for a while, but godliness, wanting to be like Jesus, that’s great wealth.
And to godliness, mutual affection
And to godliness, mutual affection
Brotherly kindness, Philadelphia is known as the city of brotherly love.
This love, this affection, that Peter is talking about is that we as Christians love each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We call each other brothers and sisters because we are a part of the family of God. We have been adopted into the family of God.
In Romans 12:10, Paul said,
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
In Hebrews 13:1, the writer to the Hebrews said,
Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.
We are called, we get to add to godliness, love for each other. 1 Peter 1:22
You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
When you come to LifePoint or LeRoy Community Church, our desire is that you grow deeply in your faith as you encounter God, and that you would experience meaningful relationships where you feel deep and sincere love.
Let’s make a practice of looking for how we can show love to each other. No Headlocks!
Maybe you’ve been thinking about how you can show love to some one in the church. I believe that as we ask God, He’ll show us.
At our last Bible Study we talked about Fellowship. This can include food and fun, but it also includes walking along with brothers and sisters, praying for each other and bearing or carrying each others burdens.
And to mutual affection, love
And to mutual affection, love
Life Application New Testament Commentary Growing in the Knowledge of God / 1:3–11
The Greek word agape refers to self-sacrificial love. It is the kind of love God demonstrated in saving us. Such love among believers allows for weaknesses and imperfections, deals with problems, affirms others, and has a strong commitment and loyalty. Such a bond will hold the believers together no matter what persecutions and suffering they may face.
This kind of love sent Jesus to the cross. It has sent many missionaries to their deaths. It is the love that causes our hearts to break when we see others hurting and the brokenness around us. Agape love causes us, to long to see others walking with Jesus. It’s agape love that stirs our hearts to see broken hearts restored.
Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and mutual affection Each of these attributes are important, but agape love links the chain together.
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
Because God has done so many powerful works in us, let’s make every effort...
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,
and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,
and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
As we do this, we will become the kind of people God wants us to be: fruitful and productive.
Prayer
Maybe your desire has been to add these virtues to your life, and yet it seems so hard. Let’s remember that we have been given everything that we need for a godly life. It’s the Holy Spirit working in us to give us the grace to become the people He calls to be. It’s not about will power, it’s about surrendering our will to Christ. It’s about dying to self. It’s no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.