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Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1:3-11

Title: Growing Beyond Yesterday's Faith

Key Verse: 2 Peter 1:5–7 (ESV) ~ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

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Devotional:

A master gardener once told his apprentice, "A plant that stops growing has already begun dying." The apprentice, looking at a seemingly healthy but stunted rose bush, didn't understand until years later when that same bush, despite appearing fine, gradually withered away while the actively growing plants around it flourished.

Our faith operates on this same principle. Many believers maintain what feels like adequate faith—they attend church, pray occasionally, and generally live moral lives. But faith that remains static eventually becomes stagnant. Peter reminds us that divine power has given us "everything we need for a godly life," but we must actively participate in our spiritual growth.

The Greek word Peter uses for "make every effort" (spoudazo) implies urgent, diligent action—like an athlete training for competition. Faith isn't meant to be a participation trophy we earned years ago and now display on a shelf. It's a living, breathing relationship that requires intentional cultivation.

Consider how your faith today compares to five years ago. Are you asking deeper questions? Wrestling with harder truths? Experiencing God in fresh ways? Or are you coasting on familiar spiritual routines? True faith assessment isn't about measuring against others but honestly evaluating whether we're growing in our knowledge and experience of who God actually is, not just who we've heard He is.

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Additional Passages for Reflection:

• Hebrews 6:1-3 (Moving beyond elementary teachings)


• Philippians 3:12-14 (Pressing on toward the goal)

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