Mature
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5) Growing As a believer sheds their self and moves away from worldly comfort and emotionally based happiness, they enter an environment where the Spirit can grow in them and replace the flesh that has dominated their existence. While growth sounds exciting at its initial thought, it can be very painful as faith becomes the
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2 Peter 1:7-9 The greatest command of all is love. It is no coincidence that love is the top step in the staircase of spiritual maturity. It is also the culmination of all of the Fruits of the Spirit. The ability to love God with all you are and to love your neighbor as yourself
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2 Peter 1:7-9 All of the previous refinement culminates to allow a believer to see through the sinful nature of the world and have a mutual affection for all people. This quality is shown through the person’s ability to forgive and show kindness to people who have hurt them. It’s the way a believer is
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2 Peter 1:7-9 The ability to persevere through the adversity and remain a light source in this dark world can now be added to the wisdom found in God’s viewpoint. You now find a place of godliness. Another way of seeing this is holiness. Taking this step is moving into the holiness God desires for
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2 Peter 1:7-9 This step involves being able to maintain a foundation founded in the first four steps when adversity comes, as it inevitably will. Being able to fold fast to your faith, live out the goodness of God, continually seek knowledge of God’s will, and control sinfulness; while the world tries to bring you
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2 Peter 1:7-9 It’s through the peace and joy that we learn to control our selfish desires. We can put off our human nature as we seek to represent God and imitate Christ. It’s human nature to seek comfort. We seek comfort through not engaging people we don’t see as worthy. We criticize people who
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2 Peter 1:7-9 Knowledge of God involves more than just who He is but also His will for you and your life. As a believer we are each designated to serve a purpose for a kingdom we can’t fully imagine. We each make up one loop of a carpet of which we cannot fathom the
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We have a tendency as fallible human beings to view people through a filter of our own life experience. We see people through our strengths. It’s hard to be vulnerable in a world that looks to devour us. (1 Peter 5:8) Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
His Glory Blog 