So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. (2 Peter 1:5-9 MSG)
On this earth we have work and training to do on ourselves. But we never work alone ... The Holy Spirit is within us helping these qualities to grow. First of all is basic faith, clinging to and trusting in Jesus Who is the foundation. The next building stone is integrity although it's not just that you're honest or don't sin it's that you go out of your way to do good. That's character, when you make a difference in the world. On top of that stone come warm relationships. Some of us have to learn how to show that we care, for some of us it comes naturally. But we all long for someone to be warm to us, that we can lean on. The next building stone is similar to warm relationships. Except generous love is sacrificial. Love doesn't go half way. Love gives its life, is always watching the other person to meet their need, love lets someone struggle to make them stronger.
All of these qualities meld together by the Holy Spirit, and our submission, to form us into a little Jesus. We'll enjoy the reward of Jesus being our nearest, warmest Friend. If we don't work on building these qualities we'll kind of be blinded to the fact that Jesus cleansed us, made us new and planned for us to learn and become more like Him.
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