WMA: Add to Your Faith

By Jackie Ricks

My oldest sister recently passed away, and much was said about the godly legacy she left in her children and grandchildren. I wondered if the same would or could be said about me someday. Then, I learned that this is the theme for our new WMA year. So, we’re looking at how to cultivate character traits for a godly legacy. Several Scriptures would work for studying this, but what better than our own WMA motto: “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” (II Peter 1:5-7).

Notice that faith is the starting point. Without faith, there’s no foundation to build on. Jesus is our foundation. It takes faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior to even think about having a godly character and legacy. That includes not only saving faith but living faith as well. God put a whole chapter of Hebrews (11) in the Bible to discuss how important faith is to us. As Heb. 11:6 states, “without faith it is impossible to please Him (God).” If you haven’t put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you need to do that. If you have but haven’t been living by faith daily, remember that you need to trust Him to take care of every need, then you will be able to concentrate on developing the character traits you need to leave a godly legacy.

What comes after faith? The verse says virtue. That seems to be a logical addition because we struggle to be good within ourselves. It’s impossible to be good on our own. It’s hard to define virtue, especially in one paragraph (but you don’t want this article to be a book!). Many people think of virtue as sexual purity, but it’s so much more. It means having moral excellence in all areas. Of course, we can’t attain that by ourselves. As the song says, “Only the praise comes from Him.” Any goodness or virtue we have comes from God!

Next comes knowledge. We cannot live as God wants us to without knowing Him and His Word. That means we must spend time with Him in prayer and His Word. A daily quiet time is very helpful in this area. Even when my life was much busier than now, I managed better because I had a very consistent quiet time with God to start my day every day before I ever woke anyone else in the house. Sometimes, now, I rush to do other things and then realize later that I did not have my time with Him. We need that.

After knowledge comes temperance. So many times today, we think of that only having to do with alcohol. However, temperance means self-control, which is an important character trait. We see many people today who have little or no self-control. Although we call it self-control, it should be called “Lord-control.” Only by turning our daily walk over to Him can we assuredly walk each step in His path without faltering too badly. We will continue to make mistakes, but God will be right there to pick us up and help us on our way without too much damage done.

We need patience to allow God complete control of our lives. Some people are more (or less) patient with things, and others with people. All of us sometimes get impatient with God. One of my favorite songs, “Through It All,” reminds me that if I’d never had a problem, I wouldn’t know God could solve it. Faith in God can work wonders in our lives if we let it and helps us not be so impatient.

Godliness is next. A godly woman is devoted to God and tries to live as God wants. That’s not just thinking WWJD and doing it. It also means considering whether our actions would glorify God and making sure we do nothing that would not glorify Him. As the saying goes, we are the only Bible some people ever read, so we should ensure they get the right message.

Brotherly (or sisterly in our case) kindness is the next attribute to add to our faith and all the others. That means kindness expressed through our actions. Both the Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible for kindness imply the emotion and the action. It’s not enough to think good thoughts and pray for someone. If possible, we should try to help them in whatever way they need and remember that sisterly kindness will not expect something in return.

Charity (or love) is the last quality mentioned here. That is not just being kind or charitable. The Greek word used is a form of agape and refers to God’s supreme love for us, our love for God or our sacrificial love for other believers. When we have the godly characteristics we should, we will be able to love others as God wants us to.

Do others see these characteristics in you? Are you leaving a godly legacy others will remember enough that it will influence their lives for the better? If not, consider adding to your faith.

• Scripture — I Peter 1:5-7; Gal. 5:22-26; Phil. 4:8-9; Prov. 31:10-31.

• Prayer — “Lord, I want to experience abundant life in You and leave a Godly legacy for my family and others. Please help me have the faith I need to add these qualities to my life and then use them correctly to help others as I live my life daily. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

• Respond — Take an inventory of your life. Are you adding these characteristics to your faith to help you leave a godly legacy for others? If not, ask God to help you. You may also want to do more studying on these. Check out the other Scriptures mentioned, as those qualities will also help. You may want to read more. For a more detailed explanation of each attribute, you may want to check out my books Add to Your Faith… or Profiles of Virtue, found on Amazon or by contacting me at jdbricks@att.net.

— These articles are shared via the National WMA web page blog that can be accessed at nationalwma.org/blogs.