"Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.”
I wanted to start in verse 10 because it gives us that hope and purpose to be fruitful in all we do. When we are fruitful we grow and when we grow we know God better and better. We can't think we will just grow with no effort, it takes prayer, devotion and work on our part so we can live that honoring way through all life's trials.
Verse 9 says, “So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Paul is praying for people all the time to be changed and to make a difference that comes from the Lord. We are new creations, born again and when we understand His will of us, loving and being like Christ, we see the benefits of the wisdom we can receive. Peter gives us these steps to continued growth that will make an impact in our lives and others so Christ shines and people don't just hear us they see the change that is taking place.
In 2 Peter verse 4 it says, "And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires." Our human desires will always be there but with understanding and prayer we can grow in these things to make our desires be for Him and we transform. Verses 5-7 say, “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, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.” It says make every effort, it does not say it will just happen so let's remember to work hard to show what we believe and to live our lives with purpose shining His light.
Verse 8 says, “The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We should all seek more, when we do we become not only followers of Jesus but fully devoted followers that are more productive and useful with the knowledge we have and our change is evident. Never stop praying, growing and working because it is all done for the reason of sharing the Good News about Christ. Amen