2 Peter 1:5-7
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
Back in my college days, I worked as a police officer and later a juvenile probation officer. My first experience as a police officer was in the small Idaho town of Caldwell, Idaho. I was hired by a police chief named Keith Judd.
It was while I was working as County Juvenile Probation Officer that a tragic event occurred. On the outskirts of Caldwell a family reported that someone was shooting at the house. Police from the area rushed to the scene in an attempt to locate where the shots were coming from. They surrounded the house and waited for more shots to be fired.
Unfortunately the shots were not coming from outside, but from inside. The family’s teenage son was the shooter. From his upstairs bedroom window he fired at the back of Keith Judd. Keith was paralyzed and died a few years later.
In yesterday’s Scripture we read that God has allowed us to be partakers of the divine nature and thus, escaping the corruption that is prevalent in the world. Today we read that we are to add to our diligent pursuit of faith—virtue.
The Greek word for virtue is aretê. It is interpreted: moral excellence, modesty or purity. Those qualities do not occur naturally. Remember that we are endued with a sinful nature inherited from Adam. We are not born good and lose ground— we are born as sinners and it is only by God’s grace we can be transformed.
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is our first objective, and this is to be followed by virtue. Are you pursuing moral excellence, modesty or purity? If not, I urge you to do so immediately!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil