Copyright by Freedom in Christ, used with permission.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8
It’s amazing that God’s ultimate goal for our lives isn’t that we should attain a certain position, or work in a certain ministry, or develop a particular skill. His main goal for our lives really is that we should become more and more like Jesus in character. He is not primarily concerned with what we do but what we’re like. If we get our character right, then what we do will flow from that. Think of an apple tree – it’s supposed to produce apples, but it doesn’t have to toil and strive to do so. All it has to do is be an apple tree – and the apples come. It could try and try and try to produce bananas, but it isn’t going to happen! So as we seek to be the best husband or wife or parent or child or employee or friend we can be by becoming more and more like Jesus in character, the right fruit will naturally come from our lives. Nothing and no-one can stop you from achieving this life-goal – it’s entirely in your hands, and that really is liberating.
Work out which of the eight areas in the “What Do I Believe?” survey are the most challenging for you. Spend some time reading the relevant passages for those areas in “God’s Guidelines for the Walk of Faith” on page 200 of your Participant’s Guide. You could use them to develop a stronghold-buster for the ongoing renewing of your mind.
