Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. (2 Peter 1:10 ESV)
If I told you that there are qualities and character traits that would prevent you from ever falling: would you practice them? Of course you would! So, what are these qualities would keep us from ever falling? Moreover, can we apply these qualities in any and all circumstances? The answer is “yes”. You can practice all these qualities in all circumstances whether or not you are Christian for a living, regardless of how unbecoming your profession may be in your eyes. So what are these qualities that Peter is talking about that will confirm our calling and election before God? The Apostle Peter depicts them as an ongoing evolution of qualities. As situations get tougher or as you get more mature, you pick up these qualities: one at a time. It all starts with the quality of faith. In a situation that is tough, difficult, or determined to make you fall, you need to embody faith in God through your everyday life. This faith eventually becomes the fabric by which you define your actions; in other words, virtue. Virtue usually allows you to see things that you didn’t once see– pitfalls, temptations, and difficulties. If you have knowledge (an understanding of how things affect you), then you can exercise self-control and then a sort of reliability begins to form within you because you are so under control. These qualities will keep you from falling. But there’s more. By consistently choosing the Godly, virtuous option as dictated by your personal faith, you not only become reliable and unchanging in your decision-making: you develop a godliness in character. This godliness you display becomes the compassion that you feel for people, allowing you to “walk in their shoes” and understand their motives. When you understand another, you begin to love them. The quality of love in your life keeps you from falling. You never fall when you exhibit love in your life. The qualities are embodied, albeit succinctly, in the passage Peter wrote above. Peter teaches us how to to live life without falling. When we reflect on our past falls through an honest lens, we can wisely admit that we lacked one of these qualities. This lack resulted in our own self-destruction. Jesus is our savior because despite our best efforts to fall, He didn’t. It’s time we start exhibiting the qualities of never falling.
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