2 Peter 1:3-11 (The Message) 3-4 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust. 5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. 10-11 So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As I read and studied this section yesterday, I began asking myself…do I really possess those qualities? Am I doing what God has called me to do by having good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love? WOW! I know we all sin and fall short of God’s glory, but as I studied this and tried to compare it with my life, I had to ask for forgiveness. I am in such desperate need for God. I am in need of Him showing me the way I need to live and the way I need to be towards others. I know I want to have those qualities, but I need to be open to allowing God to change me!
I looked up the above verses in several different Bible translations, and found so many other words that should describe our Christian character. I also looked at references in my Concordance and my Bible dictionary. So here is the list of characteristics we should all possess. It’s a little overwhelming, but can be accomplished with God! Goodness, virtue, excellence, resolution, christian energy, knowledge, intelligence, self-control, perseverance, godliness, steadfastness, patience, endurance, brotherly kindness, piety, christian love, love, temperance, kindness and charity! I pray we all come to God on a daily basis and ask Him to remove the impurities and exchange them with these wonderful qualities!!