Knowlege - Developing Your Training Plan

And to your faith add … knowledge

When I ran my first marathon I thought I was well prepared.  For the most part the training went well.  I was confident that I would finish in my goal time.  Well the good news is that I finished – but about an hour longer than I wanted and not feeling any bit as good as I thought I would.  I had to tough it through to finish.  I wasn’t fully prepared for everything that day. 

If you want to complete a marathon there is a wealth of advisors to help you do it.  You can go online and download any number of training plans from Runner’s World Magazine or other sites.  Some will cost you.  Some are free.  You can join a group like Team in Training where you raise money for a certain charity and in turn they provide you with training advice and help you along the way.   You can hire a coach.  But the bottom line is you want to get some good knowledge – some tried and true advice that has worked for other people – hopefully from someone who has run marathons and knows what they are talking about. 

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge (2 Peter 15).

Last time we talked about virtue – making that decision to take our training to the next level with excellence – to put aside the things that would hinder us.  Now with that commitment in mind, we are ready to add knowledge.  Let’s put together the training plan!  Like marathon plans, when it comes to adding to our faith there are a variety of sources.  Christian bookstores are full of books to teach us on just about everything.  We can find many counselors, who can give us good advice on the areas of our faith that we wish to grow.  And I encourage you to take advantage of these sources. 

But…

Our starting point should always be the Bible.  It is the ultimate runner’s manual for the Christian faith.  It is to be the final authority on all that we do.  I like the statement made in Acts 17:11

Now these Jews (the Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

The Bereans were listening to Paul and Silas.  They were receiving instruction from two of the greatest saints of all time!  But they still went back into their Bibles to make sure that what Paul and Silas were saying was consistent with the Word of God. 

Marathon training involves learning how to build endurance and speed.  It involves learning how to pace yourself, and how to refuel during your run.  Hopefully you will learn how to handle running in the cold as well as the heat and to know what to do when those aches and pains start to occur. 

2 Peter 1:3 tells us

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…

God’s Word is sufficient to give us the knowledge we need to run the Christian race.  We need to tap into it constantly.  We need to weigh all other knowledge we get from other sources (much of which can be very good) against God’s Word.  But we need to intentionally make the effort to add knowledge to our faith.  Our training should prepare us to take our faith to the next level.  It should teach us about the nature of God and how we can trust in Him in the new situations we will encounter.  It should encourage us that when we face tough situations, we will know what to do.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. (2 Peter 3:18)

So to your faith add ….knowledge…and

Run On!

Taking It To the Next Level

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue (2 Peter 1:5a)

Deciding to run a marathon is an act of taking your running to the next level.  To run a marathon successfully will mean that you will have to step up your training and run even more than you have been doing already.  You’ll have to be consistent, and you may have to sacrifice in order to find the time to get in that long run, or not eat certain foods to make sure your keep the proper nutritional balance.

So what does that have to do with virtue?  Here are some definitions of virtue from Merriam-Webster – conformity to a standard of right, a particular moral excellence, manly strength or courage, a capacity to act”.

When we decide its time to add to our faith so we can be effective – we are deciding to take our faith to the next level.  It is a decision.  It is a commitment.  It will take sacrifice in order to make it happen.  Virtue (and some translations call this moral excellence) is the first thing we are told to add to our faith.  Why?  Because we must decide that this goal is going to be our focus, that we will be willing to sacrifice other things in order to make it happen.  We must decide that we will “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (Heb 12:1) and that we will focus on that which will get us to the prize. 

Everyone knows that when an athlete goes into training he must give up certain things in order to add what he needs to succeed.  It’s time to put aside the things that will slow us down and keep us from reaching our goal.  That may be different for you than it is for me.  If you’re ready to take it to the next level – ask God what it is you need to set aside and what it is you need to focus on to get there. 

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” (Luke 14:28)

Add to your faith – virtue, moral excellence – the desire and willingness to take it to the next level. 

Run On!

And to Your Faith - Add... (Part 2)

2 Peter 1:5-9 has an incredible promise in verse 8 “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Or in the positive – they make us effective and fruitful.

So what are those qualities, and how do I add them to my training, and ultimately to my life.  If my goal is to finish a marathon, then I must train for a marathon, and train properly.  I must add those qualities that will get me across the finish line.  I don’t want to fall short. 

So let’s take a look:

-      Add to your faith – virtue

-      To virtue – add knowledge

-      To knowledge – add self-control

-      To self-control – add steadfastness

-      To steadfastness – add godliness

-      To godliness – add brotherly affection

-      To brotherly affection – add love

So the questions are “Why these qualities?” and “Why that order?”  That is what we will try to answer using our running analogy as a backdrop.  We will look into what those qualities are and how we might go about adding them. 

So let’s go back to the starting point – “faith”.  Peter assumes we have that as our starting point – much like my training plans assume I’ve been running consistently prior to even begin training for a marathon.  In 2 Peter 1:3 he is writing to us who “share the same precious faith” that was “given to us by Jesus Christ”.  In verse 3 he states that Jesus’ divine power “gives us everything we need for living a godly life.”   Wow! Everything we need – what a starting point!  I’ve never started training for a marathon not believing I couldn’t finish it.  I may have been overconfident – but I knew I could accomplish it – with training. 

So let’s add to our faith – to our foundation – those qualities that will get us to the finish line – knowing that we have through Christ all that we need to be successful.

 

Run On!