Supplements of Faith

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 2 Peter 1:8 (NLT)

The Bible says that Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV). The book of Romans also tells us that Faith “…comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” Romans 10:17 (NKJV) and James also adds that, “…faith without works is dead.” James 2:26 (NKJV)

From these verses something stands out, and that is for faith to grow, I’ve got to make an impact/work on it. It’s like being given a flower seed and to see the seed turned into a beautiful flower, you’ve got to plant and water it – basically, take care of it. Likewise, I’ve got to actively work at making my faith stronger.

Verse 5 says, “In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises…” the words – “Make every effort” – doesn’t indicate sitting back and waiting for something to happen. Instead, it is suggesting doing everything humanly possible to achieve something and, in this chapter, it is referring to actively increasing ones’ faith.

“In view of all this…” – all what? Receiving God’s great and precious promises that enable us to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption according to verse 4. So, to claim these great promises, some work needs to be done.

Fortunately, Peter doesn’t leave us guessing what needs to be done. He gives a list of qualities that can be added to our faith to make it effective. “…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. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.” 2 Peter 1:5-9 (NLT)

Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore these qualities (virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love) that Peter suggests we add to our faith and what it means for us today as Christians.

Supplement has many definitions but this one stood out – a thing added to something else in order to complete or enhance it. We can’t complete our faith, but we can enhance it and make it stronger as Peter admonishes us.

Stay blessed,

LaraLex