Growing in God: Supplementing Our Faith
This Sunday at Myrtle House Community Church, Martin O’Brien continued our journey through 2 Peter 1:1–11, exploring what it means to supplement our faith with knowledge and to grow deeper in our relationship with God.
Peter reminds us that, through God’s divine power, we have already been given everything we need to live a godly life. But our faith is not meant to remain static. We are called to grow—to develop moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, affection and love.
At the heart of this growth is the word knowledge. The Greek word gnosis points to something much deeper than simply knowing facts about God. It speaks of an intimate, personal and experiential knowledge of Him—an understanding that changes the way we live. It is about moving beyond simply reading God's Word to allowing His Word to shape our hearts, decisions and everyday lives.
Proverbs 2 encourages us to seek wisdom like hidden treasure: to listen, ask God for understanding and treasure His commands. We were reminded that reading Scripture is only part of the journey. We need to tune our ears to God's wisdom, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what His Word means for us, and then put that truth into practice.
Romans 12:1–2 brings this into focus. Paul calls us to offer our whole lives to God as a living and holy sacrifice and tells us not to conform to the patterns of the world, but to allow God to transform us by changing the way we think. Transformation requires us to let God work in us.
As we grow in our knowledge and understanding of God, our thinking begins to change. As our thinking changes, our choices change. And as our choices change, our lives begin to reflect Christ more clearly.
Worship, therefore, is not simply something we do when we gather together on a Sunday. Worship is how we live our lives. It is giving everything to God, listening to His voice, seeking His wisdom and allowing Him to shape us from the inside out.
The challenge for each of us is simple: don't settle for simply knowing about God. Know Him. Seek His wisdom. Listen to His Word. Put it into practice. And allow Him to transform the way you think and live.
As we supplement our faith with knowledge, we discover more of who God is, understand His will more clearly, and continue becoming the people He has called us to be.