Increasing Measure

DEVOTION 2 PETER INCREASING MEASURE 2 Peter 1:5-9 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. NIV This certainly sounds a lot like a list of the fruit of the Spirit and yet we are admonished to make every effort to possess these in increasing measure. Now it seems the phrase increasing measure is the key. If we can do nothing apart from Christ, he being the vine and we being the branches and it is indeed the God through the Spirit who prepares, provides and powered the fruit of the Spirit in us, then our task, our calling here is to never stop allowing the Spirit to increase the number and the effectiveness of the these qualities in us. We need to make every effort to remain attached to the vine, to be humble before the Lord, to submit to his will in our lives. I know within our own human effort we can do nothing, just as Jesus said we could not, therefor we cannot possess or increase in measure these qualities by our self. It is quite apparent that once we are saved, we cannot just go forward with the same kind of living for that would be nearsighted and blind, but we must go forward with learning how to allow God to do a work in our life. Sure He began a good work by saving us, but we just can’t stay there, simply saved. We must grow, we must mature in Him. We must allow Him to complete that good work He began in us. We cannot grow if all we are is Sunday believers, we must be in His word on a daily basis, meditating on it day and night, growing in the knowledge of Him. How else can we have these qualities in our lives unless we are with Him every moment of every day? This is our calling here, to grow in increasing measure. We can never say we have enough of faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love, we must always be gaining more, in increasing measure. increasing increasing