"....after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance..." - 2 Peter 1:4-6
SITUATION EXPLAINED
Ever feel like your faith life is 'boring,' or has 'lost its flavor?' Ever wonder why?
SOLUTION OFFERED
I love gum. I mean it, I really do. As a kid, I always had gum in my mouth (and sometimes in my hair, but that's another story). If someone asked you to describe what gum 'is like' what would you tell them? How would you describe it? It's hard to find the words, huh?
You'd probably say that, "it's something with flavor that you chew on." They might ask back, "Why do you chew it?" "Well, the whole point of gum is to chew it." "Okay, but WHY?" "Well, that's the whole point of gum.....to be chewed."
Gum is kind of like faith.
When gum (faith) loses its flavor (excitement), we just throw it out, because it's stale (boring), or we're tired of chewing (putting in effort). The difference is that faith is like a gum where the more we chew it (put in effort), the more flavor (strength) we experience....and we'll never throw it out. It just takes CONSTANT effort. Like gum, maybe you can't explain what your faith 'is like,' only that you just know it's there, and it's ALWAYS good to have a little gum with you for when you REALLY need it.
Now, read today's verse again. What is St. Peter telling us to do?
1. Look around and see the evil desires in people, or in the world, that take our attention away from God.
2. Put EFFORT into our faith.
3. Supplement (GROW and MATURE) in our faith.
This doesn't just apply to teens or young adults, this is a call to EVERYONE, regardless of age, experience, or openness. We're all on a journey of faith, some are walking, some running, some standing still, but we're ALL on a path.
So HOW do we survive the evils of the world? Tell 'em again, St. Peter.....EFFORT. That's right, effort. We need to mature in our faith by growing in virtue (leading a moral life), in knowledge (reading and studying the scriptures), in self-control (by controlling our speech, emotions and, yes, sexuality), and in endurance (NEVER quitting or giving up on God, no matter how 'hard' it gets). That's how we GROW.
SALVATION GIVEN
"....after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance..." - 2 Peter 1:4-6
If your gum has lost its flavor, put in a new piece (reconciliation) and start chewing.