THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL SPIRIT
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
How do you define success? In our culture it is often equated with power, position, popularity, or possessions. But in the kingdom of God Peter tells us the goal is to be “productive and useful.” The goal is to have a life that is fulfilling and impacting others. How do we achieve a productive and useful life? We start by having faith and growing it each day. Peter says we should “supplement your faith.” When I read this, I think of the vitamins I take each day. I have a list of vitamins I take to be sure my body is getting what it needs to be healthy and productive. I take daily walks and go to the gym to build muscles, increase my endurance, and maintain my flexibility. I must be intentional to work at building my body. I believe we should be giving the same work to our spirit and soul. Our spiritual relationship with God and our mind, will, and emotions is essential. If we don’t work on our spirit and soul, we might have a healthy body and be full of anxiety, fear, depression, addiction, anger, jealously, and all kinds of troubling issues. Peter tells us that if the center of our work is to be productive and useful we require “patient endurance.” It is like going to the gym—it is not the one trip to the gym that makes you healthy. It is the patience to go to the gym on a regular basis that makes the difference. Muscles are not built in one big jump. They are built day by day as we patiently do the right things. Our faith is built the same way. We choose to be patient as we do the right things—read our Bible, pray, go to church, be in a small group, be faithful in tithing and giving, share Jesus with others, and all the other disciplines of being a follower of Christ. How strong is your patience? Maybe you need to start growing that muscle in your spiritual life.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit please help me to see the advantage of daily doing the right things so that I can grow productive and useful.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”