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To Faith Add ... Godliness
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, perseverance, godliness…” (2 Peter 1:5-6)
Godliness comes from the Greek word "eusebia" and is used to express the idea of inner piety or spirituality. Vine defines this word as, "piety, which, characterized by a God-ward attitude, does that which is well pleasing to Him."
I see godliness as a two-prong trait.
- The inside-out attitude of always thinking of God and with God. You are spiritually minded. You are always looking heavenward, always asking, “What would God think about this?”
- The outside-in activity that is forever on a divine mission to be well-pleasing to God. Col 3:17 describes this as: “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Surely you know what a godly person looks like. Their whole life is saturated with thinking and doing God-like things.
For example, what does a godly woman look like? “In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works” (1 Tim 2:9).
What does a godly man look like? “There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius… a devout man (“godly”) and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:1-2).
Godliness is what you are on the outside and the inside. You live in the consciousness that God sees and knows you, and this does not scare you, but thrills you. Your thoughts, and deeds, prove you are truly God’s man or woman. When defining your faith, does “godliness” describe you?
- To_Faith_Add_Godliness.pdf (87.15 kB)
