So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. 2 Peter 1:5–7 (MSG)
Would you say your relationship with God is stagnant or consistently growing? Nobody likes an area of their life to plateau or become worse. God designed us to grow and improve consistently, and He wants the same for our relationship with Him. How do we do this?
One way to keep growing spiritually is to develop a habit of meditating on His Word. Not only does spending quiet time with the Word work to renew your heart and mind, it also stirs up growth in other vital areas, such as good character, spiritual understanding, discipline, patience and love. (2 Peter 1:5–7) As you mature in those qualities, it can keep you from falling into “religious ditches” or developing narrow-minded viewpoints of God.
I’ve had some church-goers tell me they want me to teach on faith every Sunday. If I didn’t, they thought I was off track. But today’s verse says to build on your faith by developing other characteristics alongside it.
Since you can be more mature in one area than others, as you daily spend time with God in His Word, you will keep growing and maturing in every area. As 2 Peter 1:8 (MSG) puts it, “With these qualities active and growing in your lives… no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.”