Virtue

 Virtue

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-8 KJV) [Emphasis Added].

The KJV translates the Greek word used above as virtue, but the New American Standard Bible translates that word as moral excellence. Moral excellence is probably a better translation as the word, in classic Greek, speaks to one’s God-given ability to perform heroic deeds (The MacArthur Study Bible). It also came to mean excellence that made one stand out.

With that understanding, to be diligent to add virtue to our lives would require us to use whatever energy or courage God has provided us to that end. What does that look like? Well, I suppose it would mean whatever God has promised, whatever He has commanded, and whatever He places on your heart, you embrace it with bulldog tenacity. Bulldogs, while friendly, can be very stubborn and courageous in a fight. 

Therefore, be diligent to add this quality to your faith. Don’t shrink back from God’s commands. Trust Him in the battle for lost souls. Pursue Him with all your heart. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

Use whatever ability God has given you to pursue holiness and glorify your Heavenly Father with bulldog tenacity.

Father, we ask that you be merciful to us when we are not courageous in our faith. Please strengthen us by your Holy Spirit so that we might be pleasing in your eyes as living sacrifices to Your Glory. Amen.