Knowing God (2 Peter 1:5-8)

 



Read 2 Peter 1:1-8

Peter wrote the second book, 2 Peter, in order to teach his readers how to deal with false teachers and evil doers that had come into the church. As a servant and apostle of Jesus, Peter wanted to teach the reader how to live a life of Christian faith and practice. 

In chapter one, Peter starts with trying to encourage Christian growth and gives a guideline for how to do so. As Christians, we are called to live our lives differently than the world. We are called to be active in our faith and not stay stagnant. Peter tells us that God has given us "everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him" (2 Peter 1:3). This means that knowing God helps us to know how we ought to live and how to "escape the corruption in the world caused by evil doers" (2 Peter 1:4).

So how do we do all this? We still God. Seek to know Him better. In seeking God, we are also seeking to add to our faith. We should seek goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Possessing these things and seeking to increase them will keep you from being "ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of Christ" (2 Peter 1:8). As Christians, this is how we are called to live. So, how does one seek to know God? Open the Word of God daily, seek Him in prayer continuously, as it says in Romans 12:12, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." God has given you, and will continue to give you, all you need to seek and find Him.

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