Inside Out with Peter

I've been reading in 2 Peter this week (2 Peter 1:3-11). Chapter one has some really cool stuff in it. When you look at it, the first four verses talk about how Jesus has "given us everything we need for life and godliness." That's an amazing statement. We're packing all we need. Wow. So why do I still struggle?

Well you look at the following verses, and Peter gives this disjointed list of virtues for us to add to our lives. But he follows the list with this promise "if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of Jesus". That gets my attention! So I've been pouring over the list of virtues, and trying to see the connection between them all. One of my friends, Annette, made the comment she can do most of these, but only one at a time. So, I've been trying to find the connection.

Here's what I'm seeing. The list goes faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Beginning with faith, we are at the "core" of our being, the center of our soul when dealing with faith. Then it moves to our soul, our mind, our ability to limit our actions, our ability to keep at other actions, what people see in us, how we treat other believers, and finally how we treat everyone. It seems to be an inside to outside progression.

I got thinking about this, and how so often I try to go from faith to self-control to love, missing key components along the way. So, I'm beginning to work on following Peter's progression with a few things in my life I have been unable to beat. I'm just into it today for the first day, so I'm interested in seeing how it will play out.

Any thoughts you guys have would be really cool to hear!

Inner to Outer

Working through the beginning of Malachi again this morning, and a couple of thoughts hit me. Malachi is voicing God's words for the priests in the temple. God tells them He is tired of them because they have no set their heart to honor God. They are not living truth in their personal lives, and therefore they aren't teaching truth to the people.

This struck me two ways. One, I am our culture's version of a priest. What I do privately completely affects the message my life gives publicly. I feel that deep inside, and know I have some stuff to keep fighting and working on.

Secondly, Jesus says that we are all priests who follow Him. So, then, what message does your inner life, the one that no one sees, lead to in your public life? Your heart and thoughts drive your actions. What is driving yours?