SECOND OF TWO PARTS
Carrots grow in the dark. Surrounded by dirt, damp, and compost. For quite some time after planting, only a few little, fragile, green shoots stick up from the ground, giving testimony that, indeed, carrots are growing here.
It’s pretty much the same scenario when a life attempts to change. There might not be much outward evidence at first, but there is a great and eternal work growing furiously in the dark underground.
Redemption, recovery, change, happens in the dark. Inside each of us committed to change, there is new life taking shape. But that change doesn’t come freely. Rescue and recovery have a cost.
I believe that’s why Peter wrote about “the ladder of virtue” in his second letter. Peter lays out some of the steps we need to both start and maintain our recovery into a new life.
Peter writes that Jesus Christ “. . . has given us everything we need for a godly life.” And then he lists seven qualities that will help you walk confident and faithful in this new life that you and the Holy Spirit have built together.
The seven qualities—these seven virtues of the ladder— are: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love.
Sure . . . goodness, self-control, perseverance. That all sounds good. But, practically, how can I apply those virtues to my daily life in a way that will make a difference? That will truly help me to change?
Look behind the words.
Our ultimate goal, as Peter puts it, is to “participate in the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” Believe me, participating in the Divine Nature has a cost.
I am determined to live a transformed life. And I am determined to apply Second Peter to my life of recovery. So, each morning, I pray the three paragraphs of 2 Peter 1:3-11 back to God. And I proclaim my Mission Statement: to reach the goal and partake of the Divine Nature, each day I will “make every effort to add” to my faith an increasing measure of goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love.
Therefore, every day is an attempt to grow more in these virtues:
Goodness can be defined as Excellence Expressed in Deeds. In other words, virtue in action. Peter mentions the glory and goodness of Jesus Christ. Glory is the nature of who Jesus is. Goodness is the nature of what Jesus did. Excellence expressed in deeds—virtue in action.
To Goodness I will add Knowledge, which is awareness. Not simply knowing things, but having the quality of Knowledge, knowing the acts we perform. And operating in awareness of how and why we act. I need to be much more aware every day of my life.
To Knowledge I will add Self-Control, which is Mastery in Strength. For me, this is a tough one. Self-Control means mastery over appetites, words, deeds, and thoughts. Mastery over emotions and attitudes. Let’s start with a hankering for something sweet before bed. Ouch! Or, how about those other words that escape my lips in times of stress.
To Self-Control I will add Perseverance. I can understand defining Perseverance as patient endurance; as constancy. But there’s another aspect of Perseverance that is more active than passive. Perseverance can also be defined as trustworthiness. Now there’s a worthy goal.
Get the idea? There is more behind these words than you would think. Godliness is a Gospel piety and holiness. It means having a genuine reverence for God. Mutual Affection means having a warm-hearted affection for all our family members. And for our brothers and sisters in Christ. And Love. Love is more than an emotion. Love is a decision. Love is an on-going selfless attitude. Perhaps more challenging, Love is sacrifice for the good of others.
It's one thing to be a carrot seed. Warm, dry, safe in a packet. It’s another thing altogether to be a carrot, still hidden beneath dark soil, but subject to wind, rain, and storm. Carrots are stronger than carrot seeds.
It’s one thing to get Rescued. As you will find in the pages of my new book, Rescuing Hidden Hearts, it’s been a long battle for me to find freedom from the choices that held me in bondage.
But it’s another thing altogether to try and live a Rescued life. Like carrots, we need to get stronger over time. Unlike carrots, humans can appropriate a seven-step ladder of virtue that can help us get to a healthy harvest.
Today is a good day to commit ourselves to grow, by increasing measure, in these virtues. Not a New Year's resolution, but a New Man resolution. A New Woman resolution. Rescued, recovered and free.
Happy New Year.
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