Learn to Love All Over Again the Right Way

“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7 ESV)

In his second epistle, the Apostle Peter lays out a path to righteousness for us. Knowledge of God, His desires for us, and our responses to God are found in scripture. The wonderful thing about all the epistles is the way they are written. God first gave each author the imperatives, the things that are required. God requires certain things of his creations, and as His children, we must learn the rules. After the author wrote God’s imperatives, God gave them the indicatives, the things we must do to comply with them.

Peter tells us we are to supplement or grow in our faith and virtue. We are to do this through the Word of God. As we grow in knowledge, we better see ourselves and our shortcomings before God. As we grow in sanctification, we learn to control our flesh and desires better. We grow in knowledge; this knowledge replaces the worldly desires of our hearts. Our love and understanding of God push out those desires which are replaced by our desire to please God. We become steadfast in our faith; we have a solid foundation on which to build our temple. Steadfastness increases our sanctification, we mature, and we begin to mirror Christ more and more. Our reflection of Christ manifests itself as a true affection for all that is God. This affection becomes a godly love for all that is Christs'. Our temple is then complete, and it will be destroyed only to be raised up again by the Lord.

We are all in different stages of maturity in Christ. This is something we all must understand. While God may have called us as a child, or called us to a ministry, we will fail. We will trip and fall. When we fall in that dirty mud puddle and are covered in dirt and mire, Christ picks us up and cleanses us in his blood. We are cleansed through repentance, grace, and mercy.

You may have hit a plateau, stuck constantly falling over the same sin. Find that sin. Look in scripture and find that sin. You will see it: humans have not changed in their relationship to sin in 2000 years. Study your sin, what it has done to others, how others kept their faith in God and repented, and what God has done for them. Ask the Lord for His forgiveness every single time you fall. Ask the Spirit to convict you hard and to lead you away from this sin. Gain the knowledge to find the path up from your plateau in sanctification. Keep climbing toward God, not away.

Our failures can be crushing. They can be frustrating and leave us feeling less than worthy. God chose you. He chose you, knowing all the while you will fail. He experienced life as a human and, in doing so, understands the challenges Satan places before us. Although He was sinless, He experienced our life. Peter asked the Lord, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” God forgives us every time as long as we are His. As soon as we accept Christ as our savior and the Spirit dwells within us, we are made righteous before God. It is the one who does not know Christ or, worse, believes they have been saved when in fact, they truly do not understand the cost of salvation; it is they who must worry. A time will come when the chance to come to Christ is no longer present.

Imagine a tidal wave of sin and depravity; in front of this wave stands Christ. Christ stands alone, one hand holding back the wave of sin, and the other beckoning those elect not yet in the body to come to Him. There will come a time when Christ will stand aside, and the wave will overcome and destroy those who are not His.

Do not wait; there may not be a tomorrow. Our human life is but a vapor. If you do not know Christ, ask Him into your life today. Accept Him as your Savior, repent your sins, and begin to gain the knowledge Peter spoke of that will lead to your sanctification, and the ability to love all that is Christs'.

Peace and Grace!