The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge possessed a tragic lack of discipline. He left Cambridge University to join the army; he left the army because he couldn’t rub down a horse; he returned to Oxford and left without a degree. He started a weekly newspaper that made it to just 25 issues before he ceased publishing it. It’s been said of him: “He lost himself in visions of work to be done, that always remained to be done.” Coleridge had many gifts, but he lacked an important one—the gift of sustained and concentrated effort.

Every believer in Jesus has great potential to complete the tasks God gives us, based on divine gifts. In 2 Peter 1, we read that “by His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (v.3), and He has given us “great and precious promises” that enable us to share in His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption (v.4).

God has given us everything! We lack nothing in growing to become useful and productive people as we serve Jesus (v.8). One thing, however, is required: We must respond to God’s promises (v.5).

How do we do this? Verses 5 to 7 contain a list of character qualities that every Christian should strive to attain by God’s strength. They include moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, and patient endurance. If we choose not to pursue these things, then we’re set for spiritual failure (v.10).

Let’s strive to grow as believers in Jesus who possess strong character and the ability to finish what He calls us to do within His perfect plan. The sovereignty of God should never be an excuse for passivity or inactivity; rather, His sovereignty is our basis for sustained and concentrated effort toward spiritual growth.