Daily Scripture: 2 Peter 1:4 By these he has given us valuable and superlatively great promises, so that through them you might come to share in God’s nature and escape the corruption which evil desires have brought into the world.
5 For this very reason, try your hardest to furnish your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with perseverance, perseverance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if you have these qualities in abundance, they keep you from being barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
Reflection Questions:Hall of Famer Willie Mays told young baseball players, “In order to excel…you must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept constructive criticism. Without one-hundred percent dedication, you won't be able to do this.” Focused on an even greater cause, Peter urged Christian believers to give 100% dedication to growing spiritually.
- Peter said we must “make every effort” to build these positive traits into our life. Scholar William Barclay wrote, “We do not earn salvation, but we have to bend every energy towards the Christian objective of a lovely life....Life is at its noblest and best when our effort co-operates with God’s grace to produce the necessary loveliness.” What daily choices are you making to allow God’s power to build a beautiful character in you?
- As you review Peter’s list of qualities which make up a “winning” character for eternity, which of the qualities do you see most present in your life today? Reflect on how those qualities got there—have you always had them? In what ways have you cooperated with God to cultivate them? What light does that cast on how you can work with God to add the remaining traits to your character?
Lord Jesus, I’m willing to make every effort to become the person you call me to be—or at least I want to be willing to do that. Please add your power to my effort. Amen.Insights from Donna Karlen
Donna Karlen serves in Communications at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
“Being inactive and unfruitful?” Yikes! That doesn’t sound like a path I want to go down. A different version of the Bible uses the word “ineffective” – even worse! (Picture standing at the gates of heaven: “So you’re here by the grace of God – and here you’ll stay by that grace, but weren’t you just a wee bit ineffective and unfruitful as you lived your life? …”}
Today’s scripture gives us an extensive list of ways to escape that judgment (NRSV): support faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.” Whew – I wish! When can I sleep?
Pastor Scott asked us several times in his sermon this past weekend, “What are you doing to become the best version of the person God created you to be?” He shared John Wesley’s simple rules:
And yet as simple as those rules may sound, I know I will slip up. I’ll say something hurtful. I’ll skip participating in Bless the Schools or forget I was going to sign up to serve communion when I got the email that help was needed. I’ll miss doing one of the practices for staying in love with God: prayer, scripture, communion, worship.
Blessedly, while I may have to answer for those mess-ups and misses, I won’t be punished for them. Thanks to God’s grace through Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God for that “precious and wonderful promise.” And yet – I do so want to become the best version of who God created me to be. I think I’ll pick rule #2 for today and sign up for Bless the Schools before I forget. If you’d like to join me in helping to get Welborn Elementary ready to welcome back its staff and students for the next school year, sign up here. Let’s be active and effective and fruitful and do good!
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
“Being inactive and unfruitful?” Yikes! That doesn’t sound like a path I want to go down. A different version of the Bible uses the word “ineffective” – even worse! (Picture standing at the gates of heaven: “So you’re here by the grace of God – and here you’ll stay by that grace, but weren’t you just a wee bit ineffective and unfruitful as you lived your life? …”}
Today’s scripture gives us an extensive list of ways to escape that judgment (NRSV): support faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.” Whew – I wish! When can I sleep?
Pastor Scott asked us several times in his sermon this past weekend, “What are you doing to become the best version of the person God created you to be?” He shared John Wesley’s simple rules:
- Do no harm
- Do good
- Stay in love with God
And yet as simple as those rules may sound, I know I will slip up. I’ll say something hurtful. I’ll skip participating in Bless the Schools or forget I was going to sign up to serve communion when I got the email that help was needed. I’ll miss doing one of the practices for staying in love with God: prayer, scripture, communion, worship.
Blessedly, while I may have to answer for those mess-ups and misses, I won’t be punished for them. Thanks to God’s grace through Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God for that “precious and wonderful promise.” And yet – I do so want to become the best version of who God created me to be. I think I’ll pick rule #2 for today and sign up for Bless the Schools before I forget. If you’d like to join me in helping to get Welborn Elementary ready to welcome back its staff and students for the next school year, sign up here. Let’s be active and effective and fruitful and do good!
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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