Peter concluded his list of recommendations in his second general letter with this closing statement: “For if these things are yours and abound you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” (2 Peter 1: 8 -10) Now, why is it that we would not work to make home for these characteristics within our own lives? Peter states that without them we cannot see clearly and may end up spiritually blind and much more than forgetful.

Let’s expand some of the text in 2 Peter chapter one, beginning in verse 5.

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your 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. For if these things are yours and abound you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins…”

Jimmy Carter and ‘The Elders’

To mark his 89th birthday, former South African President Nelson Mandela announced the launch of a global Council of Elders, a group boasting the alleged sagacity of nearly a thousand years’ life experience and the belief that it can save the world. Backed in part by the resoundingly effective United Nations, “The Elders” is the brainchild of businessman Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel.

In Second Peter chapter one beginning in verse five is found the following admonition: “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to your virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”