just start

Add. 

That means I have to do something.

Sometimes I forget that I cannot do what God does, and that God WILL NOT do what I can do.

This passage in 2 Peter 1:5-9 contains a list of virtues that produce a well-rounded faith. 

Knowledge.

Self-control.

Perseverance.

Godliness.

Brotherly Kindness.

Love.

And these virtues are to be cultivated simultaneously, not one at a time.

Overwhelming.

I look at that list, and all I see is failure. And what I feel is something akin to fear, because I don’t know how to fix the failure. And trepidation, because I am now exquisitely aware of this command, to ADD these things to my faith, and I don’t know how to create this future.

So what if I look at this list just for today? For this moment, even? How can I add virtue to my faith, this day?

I think I just start.

ADD must mean that I must get into the habit of doing these things, and that at the beginning it will be hard. Habits take time. 

But what if I just start?

I could:

Take the initiative.

Take the first step.

Do the next thing.

Stop hesitating.

Act immediately when God speaks.

Don’t reconsider.

Don’t change my mind.

Make it irrevocable.

Move. Do that thing God is whispering in my ear to do. Do it now.

As long as I sit gazing at the list, I will be discouraged about the past, and fearful about the future. But perhaps if I just get going today … and then choose to keep going tomorrow … and the next day and the next and the next … a habit will be born?

I CANNOT FORGET, though, that I CANNOT DO what only God can do. And that I will not be able to manufacture these qualities out of pure self-effort. Only because the Spirit of the Living God has made His home in me and promises to produce fruit in my life and my character can I hope to add these things.

Self-reliance won’t make this happen.

Only by yielding my stubbornness. Admitting my failure, and choosing to move forward, to do my part, as a new creation. An image bearer. A reflection of Christ in me.

Yield.

Choose.

Start.

My plan for today.

Hoping for the habit,

Angie