Moral Excellence

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Moral Excellence ------------------- Date: 1/18/2002
Keywords: "diligence" "faith" "moral excellence"
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Passage: 2 Peter 1:2-7*

2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

3. seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

4. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

5. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,

6. and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,

7. and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

Questions

1. Are you resisting your habit to view pornography or are you looking for help with a problem that’s eating your lunch? Be honest with yourself.

 

2. Are you growing spiritually, not because you "feel" good, but because you are obeying God?

 

3. Do you see the connection between questions 1 and 2 in your life?

 

Practical help

This is the third study in this passage and today we focus primarily on verse 5. It begins with the phrase, "Now for this very reason…". And what Peter is referring to is what he has just mentioned, that we have wonderful promises from God that are intended to pour on us an abundant amount of grace and peace. Do you have this in your life? I will tell you that it is impossible to have much peace with God if you are hooked into pornography because it is against His will for you.

But most Christians, frankly, are spiritual wimps. They want relief from their problems as long as they can do whatever makes them feel good. So as along as God makes them feel good they will hang around Him, but the moment the way becomes hard or God seems demanding, they bolt. If this describes you, I bet you also have a problem with relationships with other people. The minute it gets a little tense, you’re out of there. Perhaps porn is your way of escape from problems with other people.

So now we come to verse 5. If you are tired of being defeated by sins that continue to hound you, then return to your faith. What do I mean? Go back and remind yourself how much God has done for you already. If you can’t think of anything God has done for you then click here. Begin to order your life based not on your appetites, but on your belief in God. Become diligent in seeking His will for you. Ask Him what you should do and then do it. However He directs you, know that it will be consistent with Scripture. If you follow what I am saying, you will become diligent in reading the Bible as a part of practicing your faith. As you do this your life will change — including your appetites. Soon you will begin to hunger and thirst only for what God wants for you.

But that’s not all. Note that God calls you to add to your faith, moral excellence. You already know a lot about what is right and what is wrong. Begin living a morally excellent life, and as you do you will discover that it isn’t always easy to know what is right and wrong, or good and bad. You will hit moral dilemmas and your path will not be clear to you. When you encounter this, do you know what you are supposed to do? You are to hit the books and study (in the area of Internet Pornography, you might study the hundreds of studies we have on this Web Site). You are to grow your intellect to handle the tougher problems that will come your way. Porn is an escape from doing the hard things necessary to develop a mature character. Without maturity, life becomes simply a series of wasted days. Don’t let this happen to you. We at eXXit are cheering for you. Fight the good fight.

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."