Good Qualities - 1 Peter 1:5-7

What are the good qualities God wants us to have? 2 Peter 1:5-7 gives us a good road map of what we should be working towards to grow in faith and walk the righteous path.

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 mutual affection and mutual affection with love.
2 Peter 1:5-7

Do you ever wish you had a roadmap for your life? Some sort of direction or arrow pointing to your next destination? Sometimes God gives us our directions, although not in the way we might expect.

He tells us what we should be striving for or focusing on. Sometimes we get caught up in trying to achieve “worldly qualities” that will help us in our career or personal lives. While these can be helpful, they also can be distracting!

This is the wonderful thing about abiding in Christ. God gives us directions we can always look back at. Like a map book tucked into the seat of our car, always there when we need it.

But what is it that God wants from us? Aside from staying rooted to him, trusting Him like a friend, how else do we follow his direction?

Good Qualities God Wants Us To Have

2 Peter lays it out. Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, mutual affection and love; these are the qualities God wants us to have in addition to faith.

These good qualities are what continue to strengthen our faith. They keep us close to God.

It’s a long list that seems a little daunting at first glance. But God isn’t expecting us to gather these things overnight and appear in the morning with the ability to display all of them like a show and tell. These are things we can work towards.

Some of these things may come easier than others. By nature, some of us are more virtuous, and some have better self-control. Whatever our strengths or weaknesses are, we still should practice each of these qualities to keep them sharp.

As you read through the list some of these qualities might jump out as things you need in your daily life too. As a mom, some of these traits are incredibly helpful. Certainly, self-control and steadfastness are two that I know I need every day. But also love.

Moms love their kids but so often we get frustrated by the day-to-day struggles. Looking at situations with love in the forefront changes the perspective. We love our kids, we just don’t love their behaviour.

When we approach things this way, with love first, we can be patient and firm. There’s a reason God is adamant about love. It is the difference between an angry outburst and a calm reprimand.

So look through the list yourself. You may see a quality you want to work on this week. Maybe you want to spend a week building your biblical knowledge. Or perhaps you want to spend the week seeking out ways to help your friends. Whatever you feel called to do, consider it a means to grow in your faith and abide in Christ!