Living the Godly Life

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life 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, having escaped 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, 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.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
-2 Peter 1:3-11

Wow. I don't know about you but I found this passage to be amazing! It has so many deep truths packed into a few short verses! I'm pretty sure these verses appealed to me because the spoke comforting words to my perfectionist nature, as well as satisfied my "student" side by giving direct instructions. I just love it when the bible gets specific, and yet remains universally relevant through the ages!

1) God equips us to live a godly life.

This passage begins by stating that God enables us all to live a godly life when we are in intimate relationship with him. This should silence any legalistic whispers in your heart and mind! I don't know about you folks, but growing up I found myself emphasizing good works as a means to impress God. Living a works-based faith is tiresome, worrisome, and highly unsatisfying--and it's no wonder!-- a works-based faith will always end in failure!

However, a faith that starts with relationship will automatically end up in a godly life! Close relationship with God allows our hearts and actions to be changed miraculously because we allow God to have a direct impact on our lives. We don't have to try to live a "good life" because we have allowed God to have such an intimate role in our lives that our actions will automatically be good.

Think of it this way:  In works-based faith I try to do good things because I want to "manipulate" God to love me. In love-based faith, I do good things because I love God so much!

2) Faith is built, step-by-step, with the end result being perfect LOVE

Love is a rare virtue in our world. I'm not talking about "Rom-Com" love or infatuation. I'm talking about love that sacrifices until it hurts, even for people who will never return the favor. The perfection of the Christian faith is to be like Christ, which is to love sacrificially. However, this passage points out that we do not spontaneously learn to love in this manner. There are stages of growth and maturity that we need to go through to get to the point where we can love and these stages will require effort.

a) Faith: -first comes the miracle we have been called to--belief in the grace God has offered us through Christ. However, we shouldn't stop here! After we recognize the truly amazing gift God has given to us by calling us to faith, it is now our job to continue to grow.
b) Goodness: -our actions should reflect our faith.
c) Knowledge: -our faith should be intelligent and informed. We shouldn't be drifting through life on "good feelings". Our faith has a legacy of wisdom and history, we should know the story (Bible) so that we can be assured of our place within that story.
d) Self-Control: -our faith, goodness, and knowledge should now enable us to see others as God sees them. We should be able to control our own impulses because we see the "big picture". We can be patient with people and circumstances.
e) Perseverance: -because of our patience, we can persevere through the tough times because we have hope in the end result.
f) Godliness: -persevering through tough times, with God at our side, increases our faith and understanding of God and his ways, enabling us to be more like him.
g) Mutual affection: -we are able to treat others with respect and kindness.
h) Love: -we are able to serve others without concern for ourselves.

I think that where we land in this process has a lot to do with where our relationship is with God. If I haven't put any effort into my relationship with my heavenly Father, sometimes all I am able to do is simply believe. However, the more I get to know Him, the more He enables me to reach the next "level" of faith. The key is we should not attempt to work on fostering these qualities in ourselves without God. We need to maintain and deepen our intimate relationship with Christ throughout the whole process, and it will be God who equips us, rather than our cheap counterfeit version.

3) Never Stumble Again

Well, I imagine it would be quite obvious to you all why this phrase stood out to me. The fact of the matter is, I get stuck trying too hard to "be good", that I forget to love God. I will never grow past a very weak faith and will always be tripping over myself and back into sin if I insist on creating my own faith separate from relationship with God. I need to stop trying to manipulate God into "liking" me and start getting to know Him and start falling madly in love with Him...everything else will fall into place if I can cultivate a deep and meaningful relationship with Him.

It's no wonder people fail to see the "appeal" of the Christian "religion"... so many Christians live their faith as a rule book of "To Dos" and "Do Not Dos." Instead, Christianity should be a vibrant, satisfying, and joyful personal relationship with the God of the Universe! What could possibly be more exciting that that?!