If You Want to Grow in the Christian Life

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

2 Peter 1:3

If God has provided everything we need for a godly life, why is it that some Christians never seem to grow? They never seem to have much joy or make any progress. Peter says that they’re “ineffective or unfruitful” in their knowledge of Christ (1:8). Why is that?

If you want to grow in the Christian life, there are certain things you must do, certain things to pursue in the power of the Spirit, and “if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful” in your knowledge of the Lord (1:8).

You must “make every effort” (1:5) to pursue these things. Get into an active frame of mind. Take responsibility for your own spiritual growth. You cannot be passive. It’s no use saying, “Let go and let God.” That’s the opposite of what is being said here.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones has a helpful illustration from the world of farming: “It is no use telling a man to farm if he does not have a farm. If he is without land, without the seed, and without the tools, nothing can be done. But all these are given to us, and therefore, having received them, we are asked to farm.”

Even then, our farming does not guarantee a harvest—God makes things grow. But the farmer is still involved. There is something for you to do, and if you do not do it, there will be no harvest.

Are you struggling to do the work? Or are you struggling to trust God to make things grow?