“First Quality of Character Virtue” (2 Peter 1:5)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/19/2025 8:00 PM

My Worship Time                                                         Focus: “First Quality of Character Virtue”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  2 Peter 1:5

            Message of the verses:  “5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge.”

            Dr. Warren Wiersbe writes “the first quality of character Peter listed was virtue.  We met this word in 2 Peter 1:3, and it basically means ‘excellence.’”  “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” (2 Peter 1:3).  “To the Greek philosophers, it meant the fulfillment of a thing.’  When anything in nature fulfills its purpose, that is ‘virtue—moral excellence.’ The word was also used to describe the power of the gods to do heroic deeds.  The land that produces crops is ‘excellent’ because it is fulfilling its purpose.  The tool that works correctly is ‘excellent’ because it is doing what a tool is supposed to do.

            “A Christian is supposed to glorify God because he has God’s nature within; so when he does this, he shows ‘excellence’ because he is fulfilling his purpose in life.  True virtue in the Christian life is not ‘polishing’ human qualities, no matter how fine they may be, but producing divine qualities that make the person more like Jesus Christ.

            “Faith helps us develop virtue, and virtue helps us develop knowledge (2 Peter 1:5). The word translated ‘knowledge’ in 1 Peter 1:2-3 means ‘full knowledge’ or ‘knowledge that is growing.  The word used here suggests practical knowledge or discernment.  It refers to the ability to handle life successfully.  It is the opposite of being ‘so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good!’  This kind of knowledge does not come automatically.  It comes from obedience to the will of God (John 7:17).  In the Christian life, you must separate the heart and the mind, character and knowledge.”

            Just to let you know, these Spiritual Diaries will be shorter than many of the ones that I write, and the reason is that I desire to go through these qualities one at a time to help use remember what they are and what they mean.

10/19/2025 8:19 PM