Devotional 23 September 2025

September 23, 2025 • Steve Torres

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“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7, ESV)

Peter’s list of virtues is not a random collection of Christian ideals, but a Spirit-shaped progression of growth in Christ. Faith is the foundation, the gift we receive at salvation (Eph. 2:8–9). Yet Peter reminds us that faith does not remain alone: it produces fruit. As Paul says, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10). James affirms the same truth: “faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:17). Saving faith is alive, and its life is seen in transformation.

Peter commands us to “make every effort” (v. 5). This shows us that spiritual maturity is not automatic. God supplies the divine power (2 Pet. 1:3–4), but we must respond with diligence. The Christian life is neither passive nor mystical; it is a daily pursuit of Christlikeness. There is no secret rite, no hidden knowledge, no shortcut through angelic encounters. Growth is Spirit-enabled endurance in the ordinary walk of obedience.

Notice the order of Peter’s list. Each quality reflects Jesus Himself: His moral excellence (virtue), His wisdom (knowledge), His discipline (self-control), His endurance (steadfastness), His reverence (godliness), His brotherly kindness, and above all, His love. To grow in these things is to grow into Him (Rom. 8:29). The progression begins with faith and culminates in love, echoing Paul’s words that “the only thing that counts is faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6).

For us today, this means taking up the call of daily diligence. Do we practice self-control in our habits? Do we persevere when trials come? Do we love the brothers and sisters God has placed around us? None of these come by accident; they are cultivated as we submit to the Spirit’s leading. The promise is that as we “make every effort,” God Himself is at work in us, shaping us into the image of Christ. And that is the path to maturity, faith that does not stand still, but presses on until it is perfected in love.