Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why To Do the Right Thing | New Testament | 2 Peter 1

Episode Date: February 23, 2023

Is it better to do the right thing because you have to or because you want to? The answer is easy: do right because you want to. But how can this apply to your relationship with God? In today's episode, Patrick shares from 2 Peter 1 to discuss the importance of obeying God out of love for him. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Peter 1

Welcome to 10-minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Today we're beginning Peter's second letter in the New Testament. And this particular letter has a passage that has made a massive impact on my personal life. But before I get there, let me try to set this up with a story. The other day, I came home and gave my wife some flowers. And she asked me why I gave her flowers. And I said, well, it's because I'm your husband and it's my duty to do nice things for you and it's my duty to treat you well. Okay, that didn't really happen. I never said that to my wife. But imagine I did. How do you think she would respond? Well, it might not be very good. So let's try it again.

If your wife asks you why you brought flowers, here's a better answer because I was thinking about you because I love you. And these flowers, they're really too little, but I hope that they'd give you a fraction of the joy that you give me. Well, that's obviously a better answer, the first answer. But why? You see, both are kind of true, right? Husbands make promises to wives, and they do have duties and responsibilities. But it's also true that I love my wife. And that just makes me want to give her nice things. That makes me want to celebrate her. But we know which one is better. Not just doing the right thing, but doing the right thing with the best motivations. And I should say there's something much worse, which is doing the wrong thing.

In Glennon Doyle's book Untamed, she assures her readers that they should never do anything they don't truly desire. In other words, if the husband doesn't love his wife, no longer delights in her, no longer enjoys her, he'd be better served to service her with divorce papers rather than bring her flowers. Now, of course, that's terrible advice as well. Sometimes when my daughter's telling me a long story, I listen a little more out of due to than I do out of delight. But I find fulfilling my duties trains me to delight in my daughter in new ways. Every time I listen, I find the next listening a little easier and also a little more sincere.

And if I just followed my heart, my daughter would say, well, the dad stayed true to himself. He just wasn't very interested in me. So here's the point. When it comes to doing the right thing, doing it out of duty is better than not doing it at all. But what's even better than doing it out of duty? it's doing it out of love. It's doing it out of passion. It's doing it out of a right heart.

Okay, so what does all this have to do with God? Well, let me ask you this. What do you think God wants? Do you think God wants you to say, I obeyed you and trusted you because it's my duty? Or do you think he wants you to say, I did the right thing because I love you and I delight in you. I know you want the best for me, so I trust you.

And I hope that trust brings you at least a fraction of the joy that you give me, God. well, I think we already know the right answer. We should do the right thing with the right motivations. And when the heart lags behind, we should at least do the right thing in hopes that eventually our heart will follow. But this takes me to the crux of an issue every Christian faces, including me. What do we do when we find obedience excruciatingly difficult, almost impossible? How do we obey then?

I've never met a Christian who doesn't struggle with some problem. In fact, the only Christians I know who seem to struggle with nothing are simply unreflective. They don't know what they struggle with. Sometimes the battle stays the same. Sometimes it changes. Maybe your battles with gossip or anger, deception, addiction, lust, materialism, pride, selfishness, envy, laziness, food, alcohol. How do you fight those sins? How do you fight to obey? I love what Nehemiah 810 says. It says, do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength. If you want to obey God, the best thing you can do is find joy in the Lord. And the Lord, Remember what I said earlier about duty sometimes leading to a changed heart? Well, that principle is reciprocal.

When duty is difficult, a changed heart is the key. Only your joy in God has the power to overcome your joy in sin. In early 19th century Scottish pastor named Thomas Chalmers called this the explosive power of a new affection. His basic principle is that we tend to do what we love the most. And desire isn't a bad thing. It's the current that runs under many of our decisions. We do what we love. We become what we love.

And so the fundamental question is, what do I love the most? The problem in our battle against sin is that we love something else more than Jesus. At least in that moment, we love something else more than Jesus. Augustine called this disordered love. I mean, just ask, why do you lust? Why do you give into anger? Why do you envy? Why do you gossip?

Maybe it's because you love your reputation more than God. Or maybe it's because you love your reputation more than God. Or maybe it's because you love controlling your situation more than you love God. Or maybe it's because you love pleasure or comfort more than you love God. Chalmers said that the only way to deal with that kind of problem is to cut the root. And the only way to get rid of these dangerous loves and desires is to expel them with a deeper love and a deeper desire. The way to fight loving your reputation with others more than God is learning to love your reputation with God more than you love your reputation with others. The way to fight loving control is learning to love God's plan more.

The way to fight loving comfort is learning to love the peace of Jesus more. The way to fight lust is learning to delight in the purity of the face of God more than you delight in the pornography. The stronger love always wins. The stronger love always expels. The weaker love. And that takes me to our passage today. This is in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3. He's talking about the explosive power of a new affection.

Check out what he writes. He says, his, this is God. God's divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. So maybe you've thought to yourself, I can't be holy. I can't walk with God. I don't have what it takes to obey him. Peter says, no, you're wrong. God has given you everything you need to obey him.

But what has God given us? well, Peter goes on. He says he's done this through the knowledge of him, Jesus, who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises. Do you see his point? He's saying, if you want to live a godly life, you have to know the one who you love. And you've been given the knowledge of the one you love so that that knowledge of Jesus can expel those sinful desires because you'll love him more than you love the sin. And he doesn't just say that. He says that he's given us his precious and very great promises. In other words, Jesus has laid out to us alternate promises. So if lust is promising you joy or pleasure in the moment, Jesus gives you a different promise. He says, Blessed are the pure and heart, for they will see the face of God. And if you love that promise of seeing God's face more than you love the promise of temporary lust and pornography, which one will you choose? The greater love expels the lesser love. Whatever sins you're facing, one of the best things you can do is find a promise from God that takes hold of your heart. So in the moment when you're tempted,

you can repeat that Bible verse, you can repeat that promise and say, God is promising me this. I want this thing more than I want the sin. Only when you know who Jesus is and what he promises, will you know the joy that expels lesser loves and lesser desires with all of their false promises. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes, and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.