“你们要分外地慇勤。有了信心，又要加上德行…知识…节制…忍耐…虔敬…爱弟兄的心…爱众人的心。” - 彼后 1:5-7
你有没有停下来想过何为“善”？这可能是我们最早学到的概念之一。如果我们感觉某样东西是积极正面的，它就是好的，善的。后来，随着我们的成长，我们学会了添加一些描述，比如美丽、健康、愉快等等。
彼得在这里描述的那种善在希腊文化中很受重视。它指的是一种可以克服巨大困难的卓越能力。例如，它可以描述一个希腊运动员在受伤的情况下仍然获得了胜利，大多数人在这种情况下通常都无法继续比赛了。
基督挑战我们尽最大的努力，以卓越的姿态争取像祂一样生活。祂已经藉着圣灵赐给我们争战的能力——甚至是得胜的结果。我相信，因着我们是按照神的形像被造的，我们必能在满有果效的努力中获得极大的满足，活出我们蒙召的生活样式。这段经文中描述的善是指尽最大努力为基督而活，在一天结束时，我们可以心满意足地回顾我们所面临的属灵挑战，并感谢神的帮助。
祷告
主啊，请帮助我们在渴慕每天为你而活时，竭力追求善良和卓越。阿们。
彼得后书 1:1-10
1做耶稣基督仆人和使徒的西门彼得，写信给那因我们的神和救主耶稣基督之义，与我们同得一样宝贵信心的人。
2愿恩惠、平安因你们认识神和我们主耶稣多多地加给你们！
3神的神能已将一切关乎生命和虔敬的事赐给我们，皆因我们认识那用自己荣耀和美德召我们的主。
4因此，他已将又宝贵又极大的应许赐给我们，叫我们既脱离世上从情欲来的败坏，就得与神的性情有份。
5正因这缘故，你们要分外地殷勤：有了信心，又要加上德行；有了德行，又要加上知识；
6有了知识，又要加上节制；有了节制，又要加上忍耐；有了忍耐，又要加上虔敬；
7有了虔敬，又要加上爱弟兄的心；有了爱弟兄的心，又要加上爱众人的心。
8你们若充充足足地有这几样，就必使你们在认识我们的主耶稣基督上，不至于闲懒不结果子了。
9人若没有这几样，就是眼瞎，只看见近处的，忘了他旧日的罪已经得了洁净。
10所以弟兄们，应当更加殷勤，使你们所蒙的恩召和拣选坚定不移。你们若行这几样，就永不失脚。
Goodness/Excellence
"Make every effort to add to your faith goodness . . . knowledge . . . self-control . . . perseverance . . . godliness . . . mutual affection . . . love." - 2 Peter 1:5-7
Have you ever stopped to think about what “goodness” actually is? It was probably one of the earliest concepts we learned. Something was good if we felt positively about it. And later, as we grew, we learned to add descriptions such as beautiful, healthy, pleasant, and more.
The kind of goodness that Peter describes here was prized in the Greek culture. It pointed to a kind of excellence that could overcome a great difficulty. For example, this would describe a Greek athlete who gained a victory despite an injury that would have kept most others from competing.
Christ challenges us to make our best efforts in striving with excellence to live like him. By his Spirit, he has given us the power—and even the victory. And in line with our being made in God’s image, I believe, we can find great satisfaction in our productive efforts to live as we are called. The level of goodness described in this passage is about doing our very best to live for Christ, and at the end of the day we can look back with satisfaction on the spiritual challenges we have faced and thank God for helping us.
Prayer
Lord, help us to strive for goodness/excellence as we seek to live for you each day. Amen.
