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 1:5-8, MSG
When you were a kid, you might have had parents who put a little mark on the door frame with every passing birthday. It was one way to measure how much you’d grown and whether or not you had surpassed your brother or sister by that point. Of course, it worked until you hit those teen years when you suddenly shot up four inches before anyone could get out the measuring stick. As I mused about our joy in measuring things like how much we’ve grown, or how well we did on standardized tests, or any other markers that set us apart, I couldn’t help but think that maybe what I need, maybe what we all need is a growth spurt. Maybe we need to measure just how well we’re doing when it comes to building our character or getting a better grasp of what it means to be a child of God.
Peter wrote about how we might measure whether we’re growing and changing to become more of what God designed us to be. The list is pretty thought provoking as it concerns our own measure of faith. We can’t discuss them all in depth here, but we can see where we would put our mark on the wall. How do we measure up as we look at ways to complement our basic faith?
Character is a good measure. After all, you are kind-hearted and honest. You give to others, encourage those who need a reason to smile and are practically boy-scout trustworthy. Whew! Pretty high marks there. Only you can gauge how well you’re doing in the area of spiritual understanding. If you feel closer to God today than you did a year ago, you’re probably growing in ways that help you know Him better.
Alert discipline is tricky. That implies you not only focus your heart and mind on growing your faith, but you are keenly aware of having a deep desire to do so. You love your one-on-one times with God and allow nothing to get in the way of the time you spend each day reading and studying and praying. If you sense reverent wonder as a portion of this discipline, you’re growing nicely. When you throw in treating others with respect and love, everything comes together in delightful ways. You may still be working on passionate patience, but who isn’t?
So, overall, where do you think you stand? Are you pleased with your growth spurt this year? If you are, chances are good that God is pleased too.
Let’s put another mark on the wall.