Does Your Character Match Lowes?

I never really gave this much thought, until I saw a box of books returned in the warehouse of the company I work for. The customer shipped the books back in a Lowe's Home Improvement Store box with the company's tag line: Never Stop Improving.

Naturally when this tagline first caught my attention, I automatically associated it with one's faith and how we should resemble Lowe's trademark. Though I've been through many battles and can match battle scars with the best of them, one thing always remained: my drive to improve my faith.

I am sure we can all attest that the testing of our faith is never easy, in fact it is a challenge we would just readily dismiss if it were up to us. But without tests and trials how would our faith grow?

Never Stop Improving fits in with so many areas of our life: our careers, relationships, sports, and the aforementioned important area of all, our faith. Having been involved in sports while growing up and in recent years competing in 5K races, I was always one who was driven to succeed. But I think we all have had that edge in one area or another within our life.

So, how do we stay driven in wanting to constantly improve our faith? By realizing that the exercising of our faith builds up other areas that our needed in our daily life. And not to mention, that our wanting to please our Heavenly Father by living out our faith says all the more, "Father, I love you and I trust you."

In 2 Peter 1, the Apostle gives us wisdom in exercising our faith so that we may excel in all areas of our life, and grow in the knowledge of the Lord:

5) For this very reason, adding your diligence (to the divine promises), employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue
(excellence,resolution, Christian energy), and in exercising virtue develop knowledge,

6) And in exercising knowledge develop self-control, and in exercising self-control develop steadfastness(patience) and in exercising steadfastness develop godliness,

7) And in exercising godliness develop brotherly affection, and in exercising brotherly affection develop Christian love.

All these qualities are important, needed, and are what should drive us into the Never Stop Improving attitude of life. For in it there are great rewards:

8) For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful unto the (full personal) knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.


And the results of the building of our faith continually, helps us from free falling:

10) Because of this, brethren, be all the more solicitous and eager to make sure to strengthen your calling and election; for if you do this, you will never stumble or fall.

A good attitude to carry, Never Stop Improving.

For more of God's Word on faith building character in 1 and 2 Peter, and if you don't have access to a Bible where you live, go to
www.biblegateway.com.