Confidence matters. To go through life and have confidence in your ability to carry out daily tasks at home or work is one thing, but to have confidence in your spiritual life is far more important. This confidence is not an overconfidence that believes one can never be wrong or that he or she already has everything figured out. Rather, this spiritual confidence is a sense of peace and surety, knowing that there is an eternal home waiting thanks to what has been supplied by “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:11, NKJV).
Confidence comes about through consistent effort. As it relates to the level of surety we as Christians ought to have, Peter says we are to give “all diligence” to “add to [our] faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Pet. 1:5-7). When we are diligently working to grow in all of these areas, the result will be confidence! By adding all of these to our lives, we “will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and we will not forget that have been “cleansed from [our] old sins.” (2 Pet. 1:8-9).
Knowing that we can have the confidence to face life without worrying about our eternal home ought to motivate us to “be even more diligent to make [our] call and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10). God has provided us with all we need to gain this confidence. We can be sure of where we stand with God as we grow in and live in His word wherein we find “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). The more time we spend in God’s word, the more we will come to understand His word. As we better understand His word, the better we will live His word. As we live His word, we can have confidence, knowing that our lives match His will for us. May we grow in His word, and may we always give “all diligence” to “add to [our] faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Pet. 1:5-7). May we find confidence in our growth, knowing that our “call and election” is “sure” (2 Pet. 1:10-11).
By: Preston McElyea