A little further down in Hebrews 11:6 we read that, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.“ (KJV) Again we are reminded that diligence is in order. 2 Peter 1:5-8 says, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (KJV) This list is a pretty good thing to be working on for life. But if we don’t have faith in God as the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, what’s the point? We really have no foundation to build on.

Being born again makes the difference between us and the world. In 2 Timothy 1:12 St. Paul says, “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (KJV) Only with faith like that does St. Peter’s exhortation make sense. We can’t be wishy-washy about our faith. It is the gift of God through His grace and our making our decision to believe it and stick with it no matter what.

So faith is our foundation. The first thing St. Peter tells us to build on our faith is virtue. Glory and virtue are what we are called to in verse 3 of Second Peter 1. The Amplified Bible tells us that virtue is excellence, resolution and Christian energy. From my school days I learned that “vir” is the latin word for “man.” In other words, being virtuous means to act like a man. Man-up. Of course, that goes for women too. Take life seriously and “give all diligence” to strive for excellence. Resolve to keep all that I learn about excellence in life fresh and strong. To do that I have to make the choice to devote energy to it.

It seems to be a huge undertaking, especially if I am new at this. I believe in God, I am diligently seeking to know Him through the study of His WORD and praying. I’m going to church and hanging out with my new Christian friends. I’m consciously moving away from the old temptations that ran me ragged before I met Jesus. Even if I was raised in church, once I accepted Jesus as my Savior, everything changed. My faith means something now, not just which door I go into on Sunday morning, if I go at all.

My new life means that now I must work to make Jesus the Lord of my life. He is definitely Lord and Savior, but they are two different things. I have seen lots of saved people who are not making Jesus their Lord. They are living without much excellence, resolution or Christian energy. These things don’t just happen when we get born again. That is what all the New Testament letters are about, multiple lists of what to do and what not to do. Not just because the old life is sinful, but we want our new life to show improvement in what we do and think. What we say.

We came to Jesus pretty messed up, but this is our opportunity to take some steps in the right direction so we can show ourselves pleasing to God by our faith, and helpful to ourselves and those around us. He will help us find people who are good examples and role models. We may not know how to describe virtue, but we know it when we see it. We are just naturally attracted to Christians who are more mature and have been giving all diligence to these things longer. If we are going to do this, we need encouragement from them. We need them to stand by us when we stumble a little. Who will teach us and give us testimony of what they went through when they were in our shoes.

Thank You, Father, that You always send just the right person at just the right time to show us what it is to strive for excellence in life. Like the Amplified says, we exercise our faith to develop our virtue, excellence, resolution, Christian energy. Amen.