Effective in ministry. Effective in life. Effective in my pursuit of Jesus. These are things I want in my life. I want my life to count. I want my life to matter, not for my glory, but for the glory of God.
The other day, I was reading through 2 Peter and I came across these verses;
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.
It hit me as I read these verses that if I’m going to be effective and productive, I must daily seek to add to my faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Now, I know it’s only by the blood of Jesus that a person is saved. However, following Jesus is a daily thing. Daily, I must seek the heart of Jesus, the one who is full of goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love.
Too often in my life I have been lackadaisical in my pursuit of Jesus. I haven’t spent time reading the Bible or praying, and I wonder if I have been as effective as I could have been. Probably not. In light of this passage, may I daily seek to add to my life the qualities that are talked about in this verse, the qualities that are fully seen in Jesus.