Who You Are > What You Do

 

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. 2 Peter 1:5-8

The Apostle Peter is writing to followers of Jesus that are scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Among other things, he is instructing them in the ways of God for spiritual growth, and reminding them of an all-important truth, God is more interested in who you are, than in what you do. Notice the chain of growth Peter outlines, with each characteristic linking to another: 1) Faith in Christ - everything begins (and ends) with faith in Jesus. 2) Moral excellence - surrendering your best to God. 3) Knowledge (ginosko) - functional or experiential knowledge, i.e. wisdom. 4) Self-control - self-mastery or dominion over yourself. 5) Patient endurance -  steadfastness, patience in active waiting. 6) Godliness - devotion, piety, reverence. 7) Brotherly affection (philadelphia) - affection for those in the body of Christ. 8) Love for everyone (agape) - unconditional love, the highest form of love. 

Each of these character qualities overlap and generally develop simultaneously. And Peter says that we are to "make every effort" or be diligent to grow in these areas. 

Pastor Francis Chan introduces his message on 2 Peter 1:5-11 with this probing question (one that is applicable to every follower of Christ)... AT WHAT DO YOU WORK HARDEST?

"Peter writes in his letter that we should make every effort to cultivate Christ-like character qualities. Most of us have goals that revolve around what we want to accomplish rather than who we are, but God wants us to develop character. When we focus on being the person God wants us to be, then we will accomplish what He wants us to accomplish." *

Remember: Who you are is always more important than what you accomplish or accumulate. 

What if you said "Yes"?

 What if you said "Yes" to God? 

In Mark 10 there is remarkable story of a wealthy young man who comes to Jesus and asks what he needs to do to gain eternal life. Jesus’ initial response is to keep the Law. The young man reveals that this is something that he has done since he was a child. He obviously realizes that keeping the law isn’t enough, and so Jesus answers him and says, “One thing you lack; sell everything you have, give to the poor and come follow Me.” The young man went away sad because he had many possessions. 

I’ve often wondered what that man’s life would have been like had he said “Yes” to Jesus. He had great possessions, great power and probably great respect in his community; he probably had a lot going for him. But what if he had been willing to sell everything and then follow Christ. What would God have done in this young man’s life if he had said “yes” to Jesus? Perhaps God would have had even greater things in store for this young man ... eternally greater things. 

I think the kind of opportunity this man had is present everyday in our world. I believe Jesus is still calling people to follow Him, and a few are saying yes to Him, but many are going away sad because they have so much invested in this world. Their lives are so filled with temporal stuff, there is no room for God to move in their lives. 

I read the story of Lillian Trasher, who said yes to Jesus when she was only 8 years old. In doing so, Lillian also prayed, “Lord, if there is ever anything you want me to do for you, You just let me know and I will do it.” 

When she was in her late teens God called her to work in an orphanage in North Carolina, so she moved away from family and began a life there. She met and fell in love with a young pastor named Tom Jordan. They planned to get married, but during their engagement Lillian heard a missionary from India speak and she felt a strong call to the mission field. Tom didn’t have that same call, and 10 days before their wedding, Lillian broke off their engagement. Lillian began to seek the Lord for where He would have her serve on the mission field. 

She felt the Lord calling her to Egypt and in 1910, she and her sister arrived in Egypt with only $100 between them. They weren’t sure what kind of ministry the Lord was calling them to, but only a few days after they arrived, a dying woman they had just met gave Lillian her baby. The baby’s grandmother wasn’t able to care for it, and there was no one else. Within a year Lillian and her sister started the Lillian Trasher Orphanage. By 1923 Lillian was caring not only for orphan children but widows and disabled adults as well. There were nearly 300 people under her care. 

Lillian would spend the rest of her life caring for the needy of Egypt. When she died in 1961, Mama Lillian was caring for more than 1200 people. She is buried on the grounds of the orphanage that is still in operation today, 61 years after her death. That’s the kind of thing that happens when people say yes to Jesus, and they make room for him to work in their lives. Ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.

    1900 years before Lillian Trasher said "yes" to God, another young girl said "yes" to Him. An angel appeared to Mary of Nazareth to tell her that she had been chosen to the human vessel through whom the Messiah, God's only Son would come into this world. Though she had some concerns, Mary's response is beautiful: Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 1:38 NLT  The world has never been the same since. How different will the world be when you say "YES" to God!

It Is Never To Late to Start Growing

 I have always loved this time of year - between Thanksgiving and New Years. For me this is a time for reflecting over the past 11 months, and preparing for the coming year. I'm still one of those people who makes New Year's resolutions. I still set goals and make plans to achieve them; the dreaming and planning just energizes me. Honestly, I probably only hit about 10-25% of them, but I still like dreaming and making plans to grow. In fact, this is the time of year I create a Growth Plan for the coming 12 months.  Though I haven't done this the last couple of years, I've learned that if I don't have some targets to shoot for, and some kind of plan to hit them, I don't make much progress in life. 

My planning always starts with seeking a word from the Lord from His word. I ask the Lord to highlight a verse or passage that will guide me in making the plan and guide me through the coming year. This year my verse is Luke 2:52, "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." This simple verse contains a wealth of wisdom and inspiration; Luke describes the growth and maturity of the young Jesus. The word grew means to advance, increase or progress. Wisdom refers to mental and intellectual growth. Stature is a word that refers to both physical stature as well as emotional health or maturity. “Favor with God” refers to the spiritual component of life, relationship with God. Favor "with man” refers to relationships with people. So Jesus advanced mentally, physically, spiritually, and relationally. 

That covers pretty much every area of life, and gives me a good model to follow in planning for growth in the coming year. My plan will including growing ... 

... mentally and intellectually through intentional reading, listening to audiobooks and podcasts, and watching edifying media. 

... physically and emotionally through regular exercise, proper nutrition, and getting appropriate rest.  

... spiritually through practicing the spiritual disciplines such as Bible study, prayer, meditation, service, witnessing, etc. 

... relationally through scheduling of quality time, memory making events, and intentional contacts with family and friends.

Over the next month I will be nailing down specific goals in each of these areas (and a couple more), and fleshing out specific plans to reach my goals. I'm energized as I pray and think about what can be accomplished, but I also remember that setting goals and making plans is the easy part. I will still need commitment, determination and motivation to work the plan and accomplish the goals, but the starting point is to know where and how I am going to grow. If you are interested in growing with me and would like some help developing a Growth Plan, shoot me a message, I would love to help.