There is something reassuring about a health check. Or at least, there is once you have got past the slightly uncomfortable part where somebody asks questions you would rather avoid and measures things you have been happily ignoring. A health check is not really interested in appearances. It asks what is happening underneath.
That is the picture Pete gave us as he spoke about a spiritual health check. It has stayed with me because church life can make it surprisingly easy to measure the wrong things. We can count how often we attend, how many years we have believed, how much Bible language we know, or how busy we are. Those things may tell part of the story, but they do not answer the deeper question: Am I becoming more like Jesus?
Attendance is not the same as transformation
I am grateful for the gathered church. We need worship, teaching, prayer and fellowship. Turning up matters. Yet it is possible to be present in the room while resisting the work God wants to do in us. We can hear truth without allowing it to reshape our reactions, ambitions, habits and relationships.
Peter’s second letter will not allow us to settle for a Christianity that only has a label. He begins with grace. God is not standing at a distance waiting for us to manufacture a better spiritual life. Everything begins with what He has given through Jesus.
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” — 2 Peter 1:3 (ESV)
Christian growth does not begin with our strength. It begins with God’s provision, His promises and His life at work within us.
Grace gives us a foundation, not an excuse to stand still
This is where we sometimes become confused. We know salvation cannot be earned, and that is wonderfully true. We are saved by grace through faith because of what Jesus has done, not because we finally managed to impress God. But Peter moves straight from God’s provision to our participation. He tells believers to make every effort to add to their faith.
Faith is the beginning of the journey, not permission to stop travelling. Peter speaks about goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection and love. It is quite a list. Not a checklist for earning heaven, but a picture of a life increasingly shaped by Christ.
I find that both encouraging and challenging. Encouraging, because God intends change to be possible. Challenging, because growth rarely happens by accident. We do not drift into self-control. Perseverance is formed when walking away would be easier. Love grows as we choose another person’s good when selfishness would be more convenient.
Perhaps the spiritual health check is not, “Have I arrived?” None of us has. Perhaps it is, “Can I see signs of life?” Is there a growing willingness to repent? Am I quicker to forgive than I once was? Do I want God’s truth more than the comfort of always being right? Is love becoming more visible, especially when nobody applauds it?
Fruit grows in an increasing measure
Peter uses an important phrase: these qualities are to be ours and increasing. That saves us from pretending. Spiritual maturity is not a switch that gets flicked one Sunday morning. It is a life of responding to Jesus again and again.
A small beginning is still a beginning. One honest apology. One temptation brought into the light. One decision to open Scripture before opening social media. One act of kindness that nobody else notices. Pete encouraged us towards one fruitful act each day, and I like the simplicity of that. It brings spiritual growth out of the clouds and into Monday morning.
The danger is comparing our growth with somebody else’s. A health check compares what is happening in us with what should be happening in a healthy life; it does not ask whether we look better than the person in the next chair. The real measure is Jesus. Are His goodness, faithfulness and love becoming more recognisable in us?
What might God want to grow this week?
It would be easy to finish by admiring Peter’s list and then carry on unchanged. So perhaps we should slow down and ask the Holy Spirit to put His finger on one area. Not seven dramatic resolutions that disappear by Thursday. One honest place of growth.
Maybe it is self-control in the words we speak. Perhaps perseverance in a prayer we have nearly abandoned. Maybe knowledge—not collecting information, but knowing God through His Word. It could be brotherly kindness towards somebody we have kept at a safe distance. Or perhaps everything has become busy and impressive while love has quietly thinned out.
Jesus did not save us simply to make us better-behaved versions of ourselves. He calls us to follow Him, and as we do, He changes us. His grace forgives us when we fall and His Spirit gives us power to continue. We are not working for acceptance; we are growing from a place of acceptance in Christ.
A response for the week
Ask God one simple question: “Lord, where do You want to grow me?” Write down the area that comes to mind and choose one fruitful action today. Do not despise a small act of obedience. Offered to God, it can become part of a transformed life.
Father, thank You that Your divine power has given me everything I need for life and godliness. Show me where I have become comfortable or stopped growing. Help me to respond to Your grace, follow Jesus faithfully and let His character become increasingly visible in me. Amen.
If you are exploring faith, carrying questions or would value prayer, you would be very welcome among us. Join us at Flame Community Church, Cardale Street, Blackheath, West Midlands, B65 0LY, or contact us at info@theflamecc.org.uk. There is a place for you at Flame.