“Giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue [moral excellence].” 2 Peter 1:5 NKJV.
Moral excellence is non-negotiable with God.
My thoughts and comments today are about “moral excellence.”
Morality touches every area of your life, expressing both your public and private life and evidencing who you are as well as what you say or do. The roots of personal morality are the invaluable qualities of integrity, such as exemplary character and chaste conduct – being truthful, generous, unselfish, trustworthy, just, and other such uncommon qualities. For every Christ-follower, those must be non-negotiable. See Ephesians 5:3-6 NIV. Paul was clear, “That you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness.” Read Philippians 1:9-11. Moral excellence is the normal standard for the Kingdom of God and its citizens.
In one practical area of moral excellence, the more prominent majority neither aligns itself with God’s Word nor acknowledges the evident debris of hearts and homes such disregard produces. The Bible is explicit, ”It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable . . For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.” Read 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 NIV. This is one of those sections of Scripture that some prefer to rationalize, or dismiss all together.
There are unscrupulous profiteers who pander to an appetite for sexual stimulation, ambiguity, and exploitation. God is not against sexuality, nor afraid of yours. It was His creation, not Adam’s. Therefore, God knows best how it works to bless and enrich lives with profound pleasure rather than pain, and bind hearts together not break them carelessly. “Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord . . flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against their own body . . . or do you not know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you . . . you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:13/18-20.
The record plainly shows that sexual involvement before the bonds of marriage or outside the bounds of marriage weakens the fabric of mutual commitment and increases the likelihood of later unfaithfulness, or even divorce. When a person chooses to exempt themselves from God’s intent and design for physical intimacy, there are inevitable consequences. When God’s Word is ignored, He is dishonored, His heart broken, and your future is diminished.
The sum of the matter is this: in love, God established both clear boundaries for moral purity and strong bonds for moral excellence. “Be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust . . giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue [moral excellence] . . self-control . . Godliness . . 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. . and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” Read 2 Peter 1:4-11.
Anyone at any time can settle for something less than excellence in any area of life, but not without personal expenditure. Moral excellence is non-negotiable with God. Indulging yourself and involving another in something other than moral excellence comes at a terrible price, both to the human heart naturally and to one’s soul spiritually. See Galatians 6:7-9 NIV.
Today, my prayer for you is that a momentary indulgence not be your disregard of an eternal reality.
(Bible verses are NKJV unless noted)