Spiritual Ingredient - Love

"For this very reason, add to your faith....love"

From the scripture passage of 2 Peter 1:5-9

Love is the last spiritual ingredient from the above passage, and probably the most important one. In I Corinthians 13:13, Paul says "Now abide faith, hope, and love; these three - but the greatest of these is love." Why do you suppose love is greater than the other two? If we don’t truly love God, we will not care to gain knowledge about Him or His Word or care to become more godly. If we don’t have love for ourselves and others, we will not care to gain in all of the other spiritual ingredients (goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, or brotherly kindness).

The love in this passage is agape love. Agape is one of the Greek words for love and it means a type of love that is selfless and unconditional. How is agape love different than brotherly kindness or phileo-type of love? They kind of overlap, but agape love is doing something. It is not just saying I love you or getting a warm, fuzzy feeling towards someone. It is more than that. It is acting on that feeling. We can tell someone we love them all day long, but unless we SHOW that love, it really doesn’t matter, does it?

Love is action. Love is doing something. Love is doing something for others.

Jesus gave us the perfect example during his ministry of this type of love. He was constantly going about doing good for others, serving others, humbling himself, and submitting Himself to the will of God, His Heavenly Father. Jesus loved and still loves unconditionally and selflessly.

Remember, that love is action, and part of that action involves submitting to others. In fact, God actually commands us to submit to others (many scripture references are listed below in the questions). Submitting to others means giving up my wants and desires to care for the needs of others. In submitting to others, we will give up our time, treasures, and talents to help and serve others. We will not care so much about taking care of ourselves, but constantly be looking for ways to help and serve others. We should model our lives after Christ - we should smell like Christ (have His aroma - 2 Corinthians 2:15). Christ gave His life for us. That was the ultimate sign of His love for us. It was in submission to His Father. It was love in action.

Some questions to ask yourself:
Do I show love in action?
What do I do to show love for others?
Do I visit the sick, shut-ins, or others in need?
Do I take food to those who are in need or are sick?
Do I teach others about Jesus?
Do I send notes of encouragement or call to check on others?
Do I submit yourself to my spouse or parents, my boss, my fellow Christians, to the church leaders, to the laws of the land (Hebrews 12:9; Hebrews 13:17; Ephesians 5:21-22; James 4:7; 1 Peter 2:13-14; Romans 13:1-6)?
How much of the spiritual ingredient "love" do I have?
Is it increasing in measure (2 Peter 1:8)?

Spiritual Ingredients - Brotherly Kindness

"For this very reason, add to your faith....brotherly kindness..."

From the scripture passage of 2 Peter 1:5-9

Brotherly kindness comes from the Greek word Philadelpia. It is used in the New Testament to describe the love Christian brothers and sisters in Christ have (or should have) for each other.

God commands us to love one another in I John 4:7. "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." God never ever says it is okay not to love someone. In fact, this verse tells us that if we love then we "know" God, so the opposite would mean if we do not love, then we "do not know" God.

Christians make up the church, which is the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). Christ is the head of the church. In fact, He died for the church. "And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way," Ephesians 1:22-23. Many in the world say "yes" to Jesus and God, but "no" to the church. But throughout the New Testament, the importance of the church is emphasized.

The spiritual ingredient of brotherly love is a much-needed ingredient in the Lord's church. So, how do you get more of this ingredient?
1. Reflect on love and sacrifice of Jesus and what that means to you and I personally.
2. Spend time with your Christian family - the church.
3. Pray for your Christian family - your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Naturally some people are easier to love than others. In fact, think about this: Someone may be having a hard time loving you! So, pray that you may love others with brotherly love, but also pray for yourself....that you will be easier to love, as well. We must love others in a way that we care about their soul and want to teach them about Jesus. We should want everyone to go to Heaven, just as God does.

Ask yourself these questions:
Are you a part of a church family?
Do you love your church family - your Christian brothers and sisters?
If not, why not?
If Christ died for and is the head of the church - shouldn't it be a part of your life and important to you, as well?
Is brotherly kindness "increasing in measure" in your life (2 Peter 1:8) ?

Spiritual Ingredient - Godliness

"For this very reason, add to your faith....godliness..."

From the scripture passage of 2 Peter 1:5-9

Today let's think about godliness as a spiritual "ingredient". What does "godliness" mean? Literally, it means these things: "to worship well", “to be reverent“, and "to be very devout". There are many good people in the world, but being "good" doesn't make one "godly". Being "moral" doesn't make one "godly".

So, how can we gain this ingredient of godliness?

A. Hebrews 12:28-29 says "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."

This verse says and implies that we should:
#1 Be thankful for the gift of salvation God has given us through Jesus' blood shed for our sins.
"You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. Psalm 30:11-12

#2 Worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
It is seemingly easy to come together as Christians and worship God once a week or even a few times a week. It's much harder to think about living the Christian life daily as we should be doing. Answer this question: Is worship with the church "easy"? At first I would say, "Yes". But, a minister we once had asked our Bible class this question and by the end, we all had to say, "No." It's NOT easy to worship, whether together as a church family or even alone. Why? Because, as human beings, our minds wander. It's extremely hard to keep our mind totally focused on God because we get easily distracted by what is going on around us. It's often hard to have true godliness as God wants us to have.

#3 Fear God for who He is.
"Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." Psalm 86:11

B. We read in Romans 12:1-2 (below) that our lives should be living sacrifices.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

So we also should:
#4. Live sacrificial lives.
If we have the spiritual ingredient of godliness, we will not be selfish. We will put God first, but the needs of others above our own, as well.
"Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain." Psalm 119:36

#5. Live holy lives.
God is holy. His name is also holy. Holy means “set apart”. For us to live holy lives, then, we too must be "set apart". Being set apart means not being like the world, but being different. We can be different by how we act, but also by how we dress, how we react, how we entertain ourselves, how we spend our money...virtually in everything we do.

#6. Renew our minds.
When we become a Christian, we are transformed. But, that transformation doesn't just stop at that moment, but continues - or should continue - throughout our entire life. During that time we are being transformed to be more and more like Jesus, our Savior.
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18

Here are some questions for you and I to ask ourselves:
Are you increasing in godliness? 2 Peter 1:9 says it should be "increasing in measure".
If you are a Christian, are you thankful for God's gift of salvation?
Do you recognize the fact that Jesus gave His life for you to give you that salvation?
Are you living a holy life?
Is your life a living sacrifice?
Do you worship God acceptably - with reverence and awe - not just with your church family, but also in quite times of worship when you are alone?
Is worship with your church family concentrating on truly worshipping God or is it geared toward entertaining the audience?
Do you use God’s name in reverence and awe or flippantly as part of your speech?
Does it bother you to hear God’s name used as part of every day language or are you so used to it that you don’t even notice that it is being used in this way?

Spiritual Ingredient - Perseverance

...and to self-control, perseverance...(verse 6)
from the passage of 2 Peter 1:5-11

Perseverance, in an English dictionary, is defined as a steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose. Some versions translate this verse as patience. If you click the text link above, the passage says Christians should be adding several qualities to their lives. Let's think about verse 6...adding perseverance as a spiritual ingredient.

The Greek word of perseverance/patience in this verse is defined as follows: "The characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings." This could be summed up in simple, every day language as “Keep on keeping on”. To "Keep on keeping on" as is inferred in this verse, God is telling us not to give up, even during trials and suffering.

James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." It’s hard enough some times for us to go through trials and this verse is telling us to consider it joy. Why? And how? How is it possible to be joyful when we're suffering?

To answer the "why" question: God wants us to rely on Him. He wants us to see that He can help us get through anything that comes into our life - no matter how terrible or painful it may be. He wants us to stick it out, to keep Him close, and to stay on course. And, as hard it is for us to comprehend, God uses our trials to help us grow stronger as Christians. The verse above says that perseverance must finish its work so that we may mature and complete. God is the potter. We are the clay. He is molding us into becoming more like Jesus.

In answer to the second question of "how" can we be joyful, we must look to the life of Jesus. No matter what we face in our life, it could never compare to what Jesus went through on the cross for each of us. He willingly gave His life by suffering on the cross. The blood He shed became the final sacrifice - a perfect sacrifice. Hebrews 9:26-28 says, "Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." Even in the worst situations we face, we can find joy because of Christ and because of our opportunity to live in Heaven eternally because of that sacrifice.

Questions to ask yourself:
What trials and sufferings have you had in your life?
How do the trials and sufferings in your life compare to what Jesus encountered in His life?
What would have happened if Jesus had not persevered?
What if Jesus had "thrown in the towel" and quit when He first met opposition to His teachings?
What if Jesus had not done His Father's Will and gone to the cross?
Can you find joy, even in your trials and suffering?
Can you persevere knowing that God is working to make you more mature and complete?

Spiritual Ingredient - Self Control

“add to your knowledge self-control”.

From the passage 2 Peter 1:5-11.

As we learn more about God and His Word, we will begin to see that some things in our lives are not right. We will learn to recognize the sin in our lives. Have you ever noticed that it is much easier to recognize the sin in someone else’s life than it is our own? We sometimes think to ourselves, "If you sin like I do, then you’re okay and I’m okay, BUT if you sin in a way that I don’t then "WATCH OUT" because you're wrong!"

So, let's think of self control as a spiritual "ingredient" we should have in our life. Self control is quite possibly the hardest ingredient for us to have because it can involve so many aspects of our life.

"Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." Proverbs 25:28

Self control involves the following: what we think, what we say, how we act, what we wear, what we eat, what we drink, how we drive, how we work, how we discipline and much, much more. In fact, pretty much EVERYTHING in our life!

Self control is a hard ingredient to find at times. But, God's Word tells us that this ingredient is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). As Christians, God's Spirit dwells within us (Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 6:19) and will help us develop self control, as well as the other fruits we need. I'll be honest and tell you the hardest things for me to control.

#1 - My mouth

#2 - My eating (which also, ironically, involves my mouth)

#3 - My attitude (which may involve my mouth)

#4 - Drinking (no alcohol - haven't ever had that stuff!) No, my "addiction" is Diet Cherry Coke with the REAL Cherry Syrup from Sonic. (also involves my mouth...I'm seeing a pattern here.).

Besides praying for self control, I have found that if I will meditate on this scripture, it helps me a lot: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," Philippians 4:13.

Ask yourself these questions:
1. Do you find it easy to overlook the sins in others as long as they sin in the same way you do?
2. How much self-control do you have? Remember that these spiritual ingredient should be increasing in measure. (2 Peter 5:8)
3. In what areas do you need self control in your life?
4. What helps you to have self control in your life?

Spiritual Ingredient - Knowledge

“...and to your goodness, knowledge”.
From the text of 2 Peter 1:5-11.

What does this mean? Knowledge of what?

If you click the text link above, the passage says to "add" to your goodness, knowledge. So, think of knowledge as a spiritual ingredient we need in our lives. We can fill our minds with all kinds of things that will make us knowledgable. We can learn statitics and data and be able to compete in all sorts of trivia games and contests. We can spend thousands of dollars and years upon years learning more and more, but it's not the knowledge the Bible is talking about. Degrees are great. Statistics are intersting. Trivia games are fun. But, the most important knowledge we can ever have is the knowledge we can find in God's Word. In doing so, we learn about Him and about His Son and Our Savior, Jesus Christ! But, let's think about another type of knowledge. God wants us to read His Word to know about Him and about Jesus, but He also wants us to read His Word to gain in knowledge for ourselves.

Do you have old recipes that you’ve made for so long, you don’t have to even get out the cookbook or recipe card? That’s what God wants from us. He wants us to know the Bible so well that it is deeply imbedded into our brains and in our hearts. He wants us to know the Word - know the scriptures - know the "recipes". Of course, we will only get this knowledge by studying the recipe book - the Bible.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. How is your knowledge of God?
2. How is your knowledge of His Will for your life?
3. Do you search the scriptures to learn more about how God wants you to live?
4. Do you look to God's Word for how to handle situations that come up in life?
5. Do you look to God's Word to find the Way, the Truth and the Life, that only comes through Jesus? Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
6. Can you tell others why you believe what you believe?
7. Is your spiritual ingredient of knowledge increasing in measure? 2 Peter 1:8

"This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-4

Spiritual Ingredient - Goodness

“...add to your faith goodness..."
from the text of
2 Peter 1:5-11

What does goodness mean to you? Simply put, it's being good, isn’t it? Other versions of this verse say moral excellence or virtue, all of which mean "the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong". God wants us to be exemplary citizens, both of the Kingdom of God and of the society in which we live.

I've mentioned before that a motto we use in our home is: DO THE RIGHT THING 'CAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO! It sounds simple and easy, but we all know that doing the right thing isn't always easy. Sometimes the easier thing would be NOT doing the right thing. That's why it's so important for us to understand the "why" behind doing good.

I'll give you an example: My husband (as I've also mentioned) works for a Children's Home (Tipton Home). During the past two weeks he's been on vacation, but has had several "issues" to deal with involving the children there - stemming from minor problems to major problems. One of these problems involved a stolen item - an MP3 player of one of the teenagers. After a while the MP3 player was found or turned in by the "offender" and the people involved were all okay, because the item was found. But, my husband pointed out that there was still a problem because a "crime" had been committed. Just because the item was recovered, it didn't make the incident right. But, obviously, most of the children there haven't been taught the "whys" of doing things right. That's why that Home is there...to help teach them what is right and wrong and to teach them WHY it is wrong.

So, why is it important to have goodness, or virtue, or moral excellence? Because we are to be imitators of Jesus, and because Christians are children of God. Gossiping, lying, cheating on income tax, stealing from the workplace (supplies, time, money, etc.), breaking the law by speeding, not wearing seat belts (in many states, if not all), littering, illegally copying music or downloading it from the computer - - you name it - - those types of things are things children of God and imitators of Jesus should not desire to be involved in. In fact, we should strive to avoid those things.

As Christians, we should be the most well thought of people in our communities or our circle of personal relationships. People should be able to tell if we are a Christian by way act, by the way we speak, by the way we respond to personal trials and conflicts. Yes, you and I will fall short. But, in our falling short, that is another way we can respond with a Christian attitude. Example: "You know, I messed up. I let you down and didn't set a good example for you. Would you please forgive me?" What a great way to show Jesus living in us by confessing to others if we do wrong! Of course, we must also confess these sins to God and ask for His forgiveness. That is showing "goodness", but because of what God has done for us - it's HIS goodness being shown through us!

So, here are some questions for you and I to ask ourselves:
1. What will it take for me to have goodness/moral excellence?
2. What character flaws have I been excusing?
3. If "goodness" is an ingredient, how much do I have?
4. Am I increasing the measure of the spiritual ingredient of goodness as 2 Peter 1:8 says to do?

"But the fruit of the Spirit is...goodness." Galatians 5:22