"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge" II Peter 1:5
A couple of months ago I bought my first smart phone. Funny how a smart phone can make me feel dumb.
There is more technology built into my Droid than there was in the Apollo 11 moon landing. Everything I can ever need from a phone has been built into it from the day I bought it and brought it home.
The trick is for me to increase my knowledge of what the phone can do for me and how to use it to my best advantage. It is up to me to know how to apply all that Motorola programmed into that phone
One way to do that is to read the manual that came with the phone. It contains all the instructions needed to know how to apply the smarts from the phone! Another way is to use it everyday and apply it to real life situations.
So I learn from study and I learn from applying what I learned through my study.
In the same way, God, through the grace of Jesus Christ has built into you everything you will ever need to glorify Him and serve others. Your responsibility is to know what He has given you and learn how to use those blessings in victorious living.
How do you do that?
First, you do it by reading and studying God's manual, The Bible! Read it and meditate on it daily. It will give you knowledge about God and about yourself and about what God has programmed into your Spirit.
Second, every day you live what you learned and turn the knowledge into to practical application. Faith fleshes out what God has filled within!
The word Peter used for "knowledge" means "practical application" or "the wise us of knowledge" not just the gathering of information.
No matter how much has been built into my phone it is only as valuable to me as my ability to apply it to my tasks.
In the same way, all that God placed within you at salvation is of little value unless you apply it wisely to daily living.
"Make every effort to add to your faith goodness, to goodness, knowledge".
