The True You

Read: 2 Peter 1:3-11

Work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. 2 Peter 1:10

IN WORD

On the surface, Peter’s instruction might create a lot of insecurity in us. Isn’t our calling already certain? Is God thinking about “unchoosing” us? Doesn’t this verse encourage efforts to earn something rather than simply resting in grace? It could easily stir up our anxiety about whether we really belong in the Kingdom.

But Peter’s instruction isn’t about earning something we don’t have yet. It’s about demonstrating something we already do have. The original language simply encourages us to be eager to show evidence of who we really are in Christ. Those qualities Peter listed a few verses earlier are not demands imposed upon us. They are an unveiling of our core identity as new creatures in Christ. We don’t have to get them; we only need to uncover them. They are already there. This is a description of who we were designed to be.

In that sense, this verse doesn’t create insecurity. It does the opposite. It assures us that our calling is validated simply by our response to it—not by our perfection or inherent goodness, but by our acceptance of it. It unveils the Jesus who is already within us, the Spirit from which we were born when we believed. The fact that we can have the qualities Peter has listed is great confirmation that we are God’s children. His nature is within us. We are free to display it whenever and wherever we please.

IN DEED

Any time Scripture instructs you to do or be something, don’t look at it as a command to be something you’re not. Look at it as an invitation to be who you really are. The Spirit within you has already equipped you with everything you need—today’s passage has assured us of that—and it only needs to be revealed. When it is, you confirm your true calling and chosenness. You step forward as a Kingdom citizen and a child of God, the very evidence the world has been looking for (Romans 8:19). You become a reflection of the King who chose you as His own—just as He has always intended.

ADDITIONAL READING: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-7

Spiritual growth consists most in the growth of the root, which is out of sight.

MATTHEW HENRY