Although I do not take daily prescription medications, I do take dietary supplements. I try to eat a healthy diet and gain as much benefit as I can from food. However, as I get older, I believe I need additional nutrients [vitamins and minerals] to make up for any deficiency. Eating and living in a healthy way helps me serve Jesus.
In our passage today, Peter teaches us about biblical supplements to keep us spiritually strong and healthy. Biblical supplements are provided by God to add virtue and maturity to our faith. Here is a list of supplements to keep our faith healthy and God-centered:
Moral Excellence: Conforming to Christ’s righteousness—inward conviction leading to a change in our outward actions
Knowledge: Experientially and relationally knowing and obeying God—humbly entering God’s saving actions
Self-Control: Soul [mind/will/emotions] aligns with Truth—taking authority over our emotions, impulses, and actions that are contrary to God’s standards
Patient Endurance: Remaining faithful by depending on God—trusting God’s plan and promise despite hardship or suffering
Godliness: Devotion to God, his character, and his will—transforming work of the Holy Spirit
Brotherly Affection: Honoring relationships and selfless love within the spiritual family—forming deep bonds that lead to a willingness to serve others through selfless actions, forgiveness, and a commitment to unity.
Love: Unconditional, selfless, and sacrificial concern for the well-being of others transcending mere emotion—rejoicing that comes from living the Truth!
May we all take our biblical supplements today and grow in our faith. Blessings!
2 Peter 1:1-11 NLT Greetings from Peter
1 This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness [righteousness] of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.
2 May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
Growing in Faith
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
5 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, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. 11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your divine empowerment to receive and live the Truth of Christ’s righteousness. We lack what it takes; but, you make us new as we allow the Spirit to work in our behalf. We are being made holy by your Spirit. So, we thank you for this list of supplements and we ask for you, Holy Spirit, to help us grow in each area so we continue toward spiritual maturity of the faith. Make us strong, Lord. In Jesus’ name.