Make every effort

In this verse, Peter is urging us to take spiritual growth seriously! He’s stating that in order to ‘escape the world's corruption and share in the divine nature’ we should make every effort to add to our faith a host of other characteristics.

Peter’s list starts with ‘Goodness’ but what does he actually mean here? The Greek noun aretē, which translates to ‘uncommon character worthy of praise, excellence of character, exceptional civic virtue’ is what he is talking about. Wow, what a high bar! So, how do we ‘make every effort’ to attain this standard? And what does that look like in our everyday lives? Someone with integrity and strong moral principles? Someone who is above reproach? Someone who gives to charity? Ultimately, our definitions of good will be different and flawed based on our nature, upbringing, and social influences. Even our intentions to do something good could be fuelled by selfish ambition and gain. When I think about God’s standard of goodness versus my own moral sense of what is good, I feel like Paul when he writes: ‘So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me…. What a wretched man (or woman) I am!’ (Romans 7:21-24)

But there is hope, the more we dig into God’s word, the more we understand His character and the more He directs our path, the better our chances of reaching this standard. The truth is, in this life, we won’t reach God’s standard, but this should not stop us from trying. And we can be thankful that we have not been tasked with this alone. ‘But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things…’ (John 14:26). So, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can hope to move closer to this standard.

We all need a transformation of our minds, no matter how good we think we are. We all fall short of the glory of God. So here is some encouragement, keep striving for better, keep looking to God.