2 Peter 1:5-8: 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.
Peter opened his second epistle by exhorting the Christians to which he wrote to put on Christ-like characteristics. He reminded them that God has promised “exceeding great and precious promises” to those who put off worldly sins and become like Jesus (verses 3-4).
The traits the Holy Spirit described through Peter are inward qualities of the heart. Inward qualities of the heart are often referred to collectively as one’s character. Character is important for at least two reasons: (1) God commands us to develop a certain character, and (2) our character is often the source of our behaviors. For our conduct to be right, our character must be right. As Jesus said in Matthew 15:19, “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:” Outward unrighteousness is often the result of inward impurity. Addressing the root of sin requires looking at our character, seeking to become like Christ inwardly, as well as outwardly.
Christ-like character involves being humble and selfless (Phil. 2:3-4), compassionate (Matt. 9:36; Col. 3:12), meek and lowly (Matt. 5:5; 11:29), honest (Eph. 4:25), kind (Eph. 4:32), forgiving (Eph. 4:32), longsuffering (Gal. 5:22), steadfast (1 Cor. 15:58), zealous for good works (Titus 2:14), and full of other traits that emulate Jesus (cf. Rom. 12:9-13; Gal. 5:22-23; Col. 3:12-15). This kind of character is not developed by a Christian putting his or her life on “auto-pilot.” Becoming like Jesus doesn’t just automatically happen when one is baptized. We must “[give] all diligence” to become like Christ (2 Peter 1:5).
This requires feeding our souls with God’s Word (1 Pet. 2:2), examining ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5), and allowing God to mold us according to His will (Rom. 12:1-2).
It is also greatly aided through prayer. Notice Philippians 1:9-11: This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that you may approve the things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Much of this prayer’s emphasis is on building character to be more like Christ. In order to walk in Jesus’ steps, we must do as He did outwardly, but we must also become like Him inwardly. We must focus not only on the outward actions that God commands, but on the inward traits that are needed in order to truly be Christ-like.
– Michael Hickox