How to Grow in Godliness

2 Peter 1:3-8 is so essential for the life of an entrepreneur. In that passage, the apostle Peter says God’s 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. 

And then he goes on to say, for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith. And he lists several attributes that we need to add to our faith, starting with goodness. Sometimes it's translated as moral excellence. But in general, it's just excellence. 

And so one of the first attributes of our Apartment Life coordinators is they need to be able to serve with excellence because if you're not serving the client with excellence, you're not going to be able to keep that mission field open. So for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness, and after goodness, knowledge. 

In Peter's context, that idea of knowledge had to do with knowing God, and absolutely, our coordinators need to know God and they need to know his word. But in addition to that, they need to know their clients. They need to know what their clients’ preferences are. They need to know how to run an effective Apartment Life program. So they not only need to grow in faith, they need to grow in goodness or excellence, and they need to grow in knowledge, and then after knowledge, self-control. 

One of the things we like to tell our teams is it takes a lot of self-discipline and control to be an Apartment Life coordinator because managers aren't always grateful. Residents can be quirky. Sometimes you don't want to do a welcome or renewal visit after work. So it takes a lot of self-control. And Peter goes on to say self-control and perseverance. So there's a stick-to-it type of attitude. 

And then after perseverance, godliness. You need to have a character that reflects who God is, then add to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. So, first, you need to like people. And then as you like them, you'll grow to love them. But it's hard to love your neighbor with God's unconditional love if you don't even like them to begin with. 

That passage out of 2 Peter is just a great descriptor of what it means to be a great Apartment Life team or coordinator and a Faith Driven Entrepreneur.

Pete Kelly

Pete Kelly is the CEO of Apartment Life—a growing nationwide ministry helping people see their neighbors as their greatest amenity, while also improving financial return for real estate owners.