GOD CHANGES US
II Pet. 1:6-8 Knowing God better leads to self-control.
Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to
godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will
grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more
you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. NLT
The more you grow in your knowledge of
God, the better you become in your relationship with Him. Knowing God is first a heart knowledge and
then a head knowledge. A head knowledge
without heart knowledge produces nothing of eternal value in the soul. Knowledge that does not produce fruit in our
lives is useless.
Knowing God always flows from Calvary. No one can have a relationship with God apart
from Christ. We are condemned to hell
because of our sins unless Jesus is invited into the soul and forgives us for
our sins.
Knowing God changes us from the inside
out. It changes our ability to maintain
control of our heart motives and desires.
God enables us to take charge of our soul’s progress. As we gain control over our sinful nature and
begin to live godly lives, we learn how to patiently endure in our walk through
life. We grow to understand that we are
works in progress and must allow time for God to mold us into godliness. We don’t give up on God and we don’t give up
on ourselves.
As we patiently endure, we become more
and more godly for the more God chips away at our sinful nature, the more like
Him we become. It takes a lot of work to
become godlier than the sinful creatures we are. It takes determination and unwavering
commitment to the process.
Godliness translates into godly
love. We develop a genuine love for all. We first learn how to love all who are a part
of the family of God and then we learn how to love those who are not
saved. If we can’t love other believers,
we will never love those for whom Jesus died outside of the faith. In fact, if we can’t love other believers,
then we can’t truly say we love God.
As
we change and become a holy people before God saturated by His love, we become
useful and productive members of God’s family.
We become vital parts of what God is doing to reach those who are lost
for Him. We become the light and salt of
the world for the glory of Christ.
God changes us. If we are not changing into a holy people, we
are not children of God. It’s as simple
as that.
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