I’m thinking this week about our high school seniors and this major phase they are in to transition from a mostly controlled safe environment to a vast open no-boundaried world. Just how does a Godly young person navigate the world of today? Here are some of my thoughts to them from 2 Peter 1:3-9:
- It is through God’s divine power, His great promises and being in His divine nature that you will escape the “corruption in the world caused by evil desire.” The very nature of God is your true identity so when you walk out the door into the world, resist the temptation to put on a fake identity.
- It all starts with faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God . . .” means trusting in Him is more important than knowing about Him. It is trusting He is with you, that His promises are true, and that you can rely on His power in you. It may be like going to a doctor with symptoms and you know before you go what he will tell you to do – eat better, get sleep, exercise, etc. If we choose not to do those things, just knowing them will not change anything and we will continue to be unhealthy. Trust that is pleasing God will lead to good things.
- It only starts with faith, but then you continue to add to faith goodness and knowledge so that you can be self-controlled. Trust will determine your choices. Then you persevere in actions of godliness and love. Walk out the door with these qualities as your true identity every day and you will experience God’s divine power.
- Never stop growing. The above qualities will KEEP YOU from being ineffective and unproductive. All of these are heart choices that will transform you into the persons you were created to be in the Kingdom. There is war waging out there that wants your hearts and keep you in fake identities. Resist with divine power and faith. The result will be that you will never fall (what else promises that?) and be welcomed into the eternal Kingdom. Worth it?
- Without these spiritual qualities, you are like someone who is nearsighted, blind, and has memory loss. Nearsighted is only seeing what’s in front of you and blind is not seeing at all. Memory loss is forgetting who you are; your identity. If who you are in Christ does not shape the way you think about yourself and the things you face daily, then you will find another identity to live out. Maybe your problems or experiences will become your identity: rejection, alone, angry, confused, etc. These are significant life experiences, but they are not who you are! You are a child of the Creator of the universe! That is who you are in truth and no one around you can take that away from you. Don’t fall for a fake identity when God has gone to great lengths to give you His very own nature for your own.
Peter wrote this to all of us. May we all shed the fake identities and live in His divine power! It’s the only way we will never fall.