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. (2 Peter 1:5-7, NIV)
A new year is here and that usually involves some decisions we make about our golf game. We want to get better at the game we love to play. We make a list of things we would like to do to be better this year than we did last year. Will we work on our putting, or will it be an effort to get longer off the tee, or we will be content with making our short game the best it has ever been? Whatever we decide we need to work on, it will involve changes to what we have been doing. Change is hard because it involves giving a new idea a chance, and it might require giving up on an idea that we have thought was the best way to accomplish what we want to do.
As a Christian, it is possible to get stale and remain in a rut if we don’t make changes in the way we approach our life. Jesus calls us to a faith that is vibrant and full of life. We should not be the same person we are today a year from now. He calls us to become our very best selves and gives us the tools to help that become a reality.
There should be a clear pattern of growth in our life. If we don’t see that, we might need to rethink how we are approaching our life.Our faith in Jesus starts with acknowledging that we can do nothing on our own. He does not call us to try to be better on our own. He calls us to trust in his power to change us. He comes alongside us and works together with us to make us better people and to empower us to help the world around us (a process called sanctification). Our growth does not impact our salvation, which is freely given to us if we choose to accept it. But if we are to become all that God wants us to be, we will have to participate in this process of change. In this way, our belief turns to action. (We can choose not to do this wholly, and God will not take his grace and salvation from us. We will remain his, but our life will never be all it could be if we don’t work with him and allow him to lead and teach us—see 1 Corinthians 3:12-15.) There should be a clear pattern of growth in our life. If we don’t see that, we might need to rethink how we are approaching our life.
Our scripture for today gives us a list of things we can measure our growth by. It all starts with faith in Jesus, but to that faith we are encouraged to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Jesus calls us to a life that is greater and more powerful than anything we could imagine. We can’t get there on our own but if we will get in the yoke with him, we will find ourselves growing in these areas in ways we never thought possible.
Our golf game needs change to improve. Our life does too. God saves us to a greater purpose and to succeed in the life he has given us. When we submit to his leading, he will make us into the best version of who we can be. It will be worth it in the end.
—
Linda Ballard
January 9, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.