Fellowship Bible Church - Mullica, Hill N.J.

Every child of God is to be growing, not being stagnant, spiritually.

You might be saying “But I am a maturing, growing believer. I’m involved in the church and help with lots of things.” Christian busyness is may be the single greatest facade of spiritual maturity, possibly followed by growing up with Christian parents.

When Peter discusses these qualities of the growing believer, he makes a few things very clear in his teaching:

1.He needed to remind the believers of these things, even though they already knew them (v12)
2.He told them that if they practiced these qualities of growth, they would be stable and never fall (v10)
3.He told them that believers who fail to practice these qualities are like a nearsighted blind person who suffers from spiritual amnesia (v9)
4.He told them that if these qualities were theirs and increasing, they will prevent spiritual ineffectiveness and unfruitfulness (v8)

Faith in Jesus Christ is what separates Christians from all other people. It’s the foundation for every believer and common for every believer.

Virtue. To his faith each believer should add goodness. This means “excellence”. For the Greek philosophers it meant “the fulfillment of a thing.” When anything in nature fulfills its purpose, that is “virtue-moral excellence.”

The believer is a partaker of the divine nature. When he is fulfilling this purpose, he could be considered to have “virtue”

For the believer, there should be mounting evidence of living out his life purpose of reflecting the divine nature.
For us, there should be growth in living out God’s will for his life.

Knowledge. At the end of his letter, Peter indicated what type of knowledge we’re to grow in: the grace and knowledge of Christ. Knowledge comes not from intellectual pursuits, but is spiritual knowledge. It’s foundation is a knowledge of Christ and the will of God.

For the believer, there should be mounting evidence of growing in the knowledge of Christ.
For us, we should be increasing in our love and appreciation of Christ through His Word.

Self-Control. As I’m growing in my faith, my virtue, my spiritual knowledge or my knowledge of Christ, I am next impacted with the need for greater self-control.

This means to have one’s passions under control.

For the believer, there should be mounting evidence of being able to say no to the flesh.
For us, there should be greater sensitivity to the Spirit, and increasing moments of saying “No” to what I really want.

Perseverance. This is “patience and endurance in doing what is right” (Macarthur). In the NT there seems to always be a forward look to it – a diligence to continue in hardship because of something that awaits.

The believer should be growing in his ability to be diligent. To not let oneself get rattled. This is a barometer of true spirituality: what types of things rattle my cage, and how often do I allow that to happen?

For the believer, there should be mounting evidence of diligent perseverance in the midst of hardship.
For us, we should be persevering even when things are hard.

Godliness. “Godliness…is man’s obligation of reverence toward God.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary). “It is a practical awareness of God in every aspect of life” (Michael Greene, Peter and Jude).

For the believer, this is the reality of Christ outside of church, outside of speaking, outside of our personal devotions. It’s awareness of God in the daily grind of life.

For the believer, there should be mounting evidence of an awareness of God in the daily grind of life.
For us, there should be moments of us reflecting on God throughout the day, not just during our morning devotions.

The first five characteristics of maturity pertain to one’s inner life and his relationship to God. The last two relate to others.

Brotherly Kindness. “Brotherly kindness translates the Greek philadelphian, a fervent practical caring for others (1 John 4:20).” It’s the reality that what has been worked in through godliness will always find its way out in brotherly kindness.

The believer growing in brotherly kindness is becoming more tolerable of the short-comings of others, and is looking to be gracious in words and in heart attitude.

For the believer, there should be mounting evidence of being more gracious in your actions, attitudes and answers.
For us, we should see growth in our responses towards people this year from last year.

Love. Plain and simple, this is active self-sacrifice. It’s the highest quality for the child of God because it is the greatest characteristic of God.

The believer growing in love is increasingly putting the needs of others ahead of their own. It’s willing to say “I’ll take the backseat if it means you get to be in the front seat.”

For the believer, there should be mounting evidence of sacrificially putting other people first.
For us, we should be actively looking for ways to put others before us.

For the believer there should be mounting evidence of:
· a developed purpose in reflecting God.
· growing in the knowledge of Christ and His Will
· being able to say no to the flesh.
· diligent perseverance in the midst of hardship.
· an awareness of God in the daily grind of life.
· graciousness in your actions, attitudes and answers.
· sacrificially putting other people first.

Let’s put this into practice – let’s say in a marriage or in our parenting:

Virtue: In our closest relationships, we live out virtue by actively prioritizing our time with them.

Knowledge: In our closest relationships, we live out growing knowledge by actively sharing how we’re growing in Christ with each other.

Self-Control: In our closest relationships we live out self-control by not doing what the flesh wants and what the Spirit wants.

Perseverance: In our closest relationships, we should be persevering even when it’s challenging or hard.

Godliness: In our closest relationships, there should be a natural openness to reflect on Christ and be communicative about him.

BrotherlyKindness: In our closest relationships, we should be more tolerant of loved ones and our graciousness towards them.

Love: In our closest relationships, we should be sacrificing what we want for what others wants.

Carefully examine each of these areas – and ask yourself – how have I seen growth? Where am I seeing immaturity? Begin a plan to see that area strengthened in your life.

For the believer, spiritual idleness cannot be an option. We need to attentively pursue spiritual growth – not merely spiritual activity.