Being Effective And Productive In The Kingdom

“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 (emphasis mine)

Two phrases literally leaped right off the page as I read this scripture. “if you possess these qualities… they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive…” There are certain things that we must have  in our spiritual walks in order to remain effective and productive in the kingdom. The opposite can be said that if we do not possess these qualities then we inevitably will be ineffective and unproductive in the kingdom. This is exactly the very card satan is trying to play on Christians. He wants to deem us ineffective and unproductive. Keeping the devil in a place of fear is our playing card. When we are aware and continuously working on the qualities needed to be effective and productive in the kingdom of God we keep satan in a constant state of fear.

Let’s take a look at the characteristics that have been listed in this verse: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love. That is a pretty powerful list. I don’t know about you, but I know there are a few on that list I need some help to possess in increasing measure for sure! I want to take some time to look these characteristics, learn what they are and what scripture teaches about each one.

Faith

Scripture tells us that “...if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move...”  Matthew 17:20 We do not need an abundance of faith in order to thrive in the kingdom of God. We just need the tiniest amount of unwavering faith in the Lord to see the impossible take place. The beautiful thing about faith is that it can start out as small as a mustard seed and as we see mountains move in our lives and the lives of those around us we can watch it grow. Our faith grows with each answer to pray, with each God sized portion of provision, with every occasion of supernatural protection and in  each and every heartfelt moment of peace in the midst of the cayos. Scripture tells us that when we seek Him we will find Him. (Matthew 7:7) Our faith grows when we look for God in every situation.

Goodness

Goodness is moral excellence and virtue. This is a quality we have seen drastic declines in our culture over the last several decades. Our culture likes to tell us that humans are inherently good. However, scripture is clear that we were born with a sin nature and are sinners from birth.

“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5 The sin nature we are born with wages furiously against any type of goodness unless we are willing to purposely take a stand and fight back. Our flesh will always win the war that we are not willing to fight.   

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 (ESV) I’d like to reword this verse to say…”Surly moral excellence and virtue will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (My rendition of Psalm 23:6) The old saying that states “What goes around comes around” applies quite literally in this verse. When we operate with moral excellence and virtue, then they will surely follow us. People are drawn to those with a large moral base and function with virtue. I have never met a person who displayed excellent moral character that I haven’t enjoyed being around. These people become magnets for the kingdom. It’s no wonder God wants the characteristic of goodness to grow in increasing measure in our lives.

Knowledge

Knowledge is acquiring facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation (adapted from dictionary.com). God intends for us to grow in our knowledge of Him, His word, His truths, and His principles as we mature in our faith. We are not called to stay spiritual babies forever. “The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.” Proverbs 18:15. We are called to actively search and seek out knowledge, understanding, truth, God’s principles and investigate the scriptures. If we are not diligently doing this we can not possibly be growing in knowledge in increasing measure. This takes time and effort on our part. We must be willing to put forth the effort needed to acquire knowledge. I sometimes wish that by some form of osmosis it would just come to me. But it doesn't. That would be a surefire way to create a lazy Christian. And if I know anything about our Heavenly Father, He is not in the business of creating lazy Christians.

Self-control

Self control is our ability to restrain our actions, feelings and words when we find ourselves under pressure, stress, or criticism. This is an area that needs so much of God’s grace in my personal walk. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. People know when I am annoyed, frustrated or bothered. I wish I had a shut off switch in this department because my lack of restraint has gotten me in more trouble than I care to admit. Proverbs 14:17 tells us that “a quick tempered person does foolish things…” Yep, that’s me alright, a short fuse that turns into foolishness. How about you? Are you one who is quick to anger and frustration, or are you one who exhibits self control in difficult situations? Lord, help us to have self control in increasing measure!    

Perseverance

The meaning of perseverance is having a steady persistence in a course of action, or a purpose, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement (dictionary.com) Some translations of scripture also use long suffering. We are going to be faced with all kinds of obstacles in our walk with Christ. Will we have the stubbornness that it takes to stick it out no matter what the obstacles? Are we truly willing to suffer long and hard for the sake of the kingdom or will we crumble under the pressure? I believe we must exhibit a certain degree of obstinence in the kingdom. We must not be willing to compromise our faith for shortcuts, narrow roads or smoother paths. I truly believe that in order to have perseverance we must be bullheaded for Godly principles. Afterall, satan is certainly persistent in his fight for our souls. Why shouldn’t we be just as insistent upon righteousness prevailing in our lives and the lives of our family? ”Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12 We will receive a crown of life when we persevere under trials! What sobering thought. We are storing up treasures in heaven when we are stubborn for kingdom principles. Lord, give us a tenacity for long suffering.

Godliness

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8) Becoming more Christ like is the very essence of being a Christian. Having godliness is valuable to everything we do in this life. We must desire to become increasingly Christ like each and every day.

Kindness

I have shared in a previous post about kindness. When people operate with kindness, it flows from their very character in such a way that they will elevate the good in others. They consciously look towards the interests of those around them. (Philippians 2:3-4) It is their desire to see others grow and flourish. The very nature of our Heavenly Father is kindness. He desires for us to grow in kindness with increasing measure each and every day.

Love

I recently completed an entire series on love. Please feel free to go and view that series if you need a refresher on God’s love. Love encomposes all of these characteristics that we just listed out. If we truly love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Luke 10:27), then we will possess faith, goodness, a thirst for knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness and kindness. That does not mean that we possess each of them with increasing measure. That takes work on our part to make that happen. I truly believe that if we put the majority of our efforts into loving God, and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31), then the rest will fall into place. That is why scripture tells us that “...the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 3:13.

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the keys to being effective and productive in your kingdom. Help us to grow with increasing measure each and every day in faith, goodness, a thirst for knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and most importantly love. Thank you for not giving us a spirit of fear, but for allowing us to use fear as a weapon against the enemy. As we increase in these qualities may it build fear in satan. We pray that no weapon that he tries to bring against us is going to prosper because we are keeping busy working the word in our lives with increasing measure. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ.