One of my weaknesses of late has been gathering recipes. Once I clicked on a Facebook page for a "healthy" recipe and now I get dozens of recipe ideas every day. I have yet to find a great recipe that is both healthy and tastes good.
Actually, I've been addicted to recipes all my married life. I have a whole row of cookbooks in my bookcase. There I have found some wonderful recipes by great cooks. I have tagged pages with favorites that I go back to again and again.
Peter wrote a specific recipe for growing Christians. The ingredients are important individually. But, they all work together to make us resemble Jesus Christ more closely. God empowers us, but the recipe is not complete until we work at these characteristics daily and show growth.
"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, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, 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," (2 Peter 1:5-8 NIV).
Wow. What a list of qualities to work on!
Goodness
Knowledge
Self-Control
Perseverance
Godliness
Brotherly Kindness
Love
And, as we read in the Scriptures elsewhere, the greatest of these is love. But it takes them all to be a growing Christian. They aren't automatically ours when we are born again. We have the Holy Spirit in us that helps us, but the work is ours to do.
Heavenly Father: when we see this list of our responsibilities, we are overwhelmed and convicted of our weaknesses. Please hear our confessions of failures, and help us rebuild our character to be the follower of Jesus Christ that You desire us to be. Thank You for sending Your Son to save us from our sins. Praying in the name of Jesus, Amen.
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