His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 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. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I love lists. I'm not one will will write down a list very often, but when I see them, it makes me want to determine its purpose.
Some people are inclined to write down everything they need to get done during the day.
Purpose: to feel like the day wasn't a waste and accomplish the required tasks of the day.
Some people make a grocery list before going to the store.
Purpose: to make sure they don't forget anything and/or map out their attack plan for buying their food.
As I said, I don't usually write down lists, for better or worse. I feel like taking the time to write it down, waste a piece of paper and ink, just to cross it off and throw it away is a waste, but there have been times when a list would have helped me remember to get everything instead of having to go back to the store, wasting gas, which was probably a bigger waste than the ink and paper.
Back to the text, whenever I see a list in the Bible, I know there must be a purpose and luckily for us, God does a really good job of explaining His lists for us.
The list in 2 Peter is as follows:
- Faith
- Goodness
- Knowledge
- Self-Control
- Perseverance
- Godliness
- Brotherly Kindness
- Love
Purpose: If you possess this list in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and if you do all these things you will never fall and will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom.
I like how Peter begins with Faith and ends with Love. Such a great list...one I hope I can commit to memory...or maybe I should write it down... :-)
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