"...Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge And to knowledge temperance to temperance patience;...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...if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:" - 2nd Peter 1:5-6b, 8, 10b (KJV)Faith needs additives1 to encourage growth and Peter lists seven (7) with the promise if they are present the believer will never fall, nor be barren and unfruitful.
Peter uses a word meaning "cheerful endurance" as a required addtive to self control. Sometimes we endure because we must, but cheerfulness in that endurance is always a choice;
Endurance with a bad attitude isn't patience, it's just being stuck, and
bears little fruit. Those who add cheerful endurance to self control will see difficulties turn out to be a blessing for themselves and those around.
- fritz
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