Make Your Faith Grow

Giving all diligence, add to your faith . . . (2 Peter 1:5).

Faith must be more than belief in certain facts; it must result in action, growth in Christian character, and the practice of moral discipline, or it will die away (James 2:14-17). Peter lists several of faith’s actions: learning to know God better, developing perseverance, doing God’s will, loving others. These actions do not come automatically; they require hard work. They are not optional; all of them must be a continual part of the Christian life. We don’t finish one and start on the next, but we work on them all together. God empowers and enables us, but he also gives us the responsibility to learn and to grow.

Without faith, Christians are no different from the pagans in the world around them. The faith Peter referred to is faith in Christ, faith that brings them into the family of God. While people might have some of the following characteristics by nature, those are worthless in eternity without being grounded in faith.

But Christians were not to stop at faith alone. Peter knew, like James, that faith without works is dead. The believers had work to do, and so do we.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.