Nov 12. 1 Peter 1. Carl Poellnitz

Add to your Faith

I was meant to produce.

I was meant to grow.

Healthy things grow.  Not because they are looking to gain something, but their growth shows their health for all to see.

As of November 15, 2021, I will have been a disciple for 9106 days (That’s 24 years, 11 months and 5 days for the mathematically challenged).  Over that period, I have worked to add each of the characteristics listed in 2 Peter 1: 5-9 to my life.  Each time the addition was successful I grew.  The greatest sign that the growth was genuinely present was when other people pointed it out to me.  They knew that who I was at that moment was different from the person I was a week ago or a month ago or a year ago.  I am not trying to gain some favor from God.  I am doing this by letting God be God in my life.  Just as a good tree bears good fruit over time, so my life will bear fruit over time as I grow.

Sometimes the fruit is people added to God’s kingdom.  Sometimes the fruit is not only the ability to take a new leadership role, but the desire to do so.  Personally, I believe the biggest proof that I have lived out 2 Peter 1:5-9 is when my Facebook status went from “single” to “In a relationship” to “married”.  Through the process of going on dates, having a long-distance relationship to the engagement to walking down the aisle I saw all these attributes being put on display in ever growing quantities, even to the point of using my dating/engagement process to live out being a disciple of Jesus Christ to the full.  It showed the direction of my growth, and the direction of my growth was in the same direction of any healthy thing.

My growth’s direction was upwards, towards the “Son”.