Lenten Devotion - March 29, 2025

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Saturday, March 29, 2025


Scripture: 2 Peter 1:5-8

Devotion: Peter describes spiritual growth as an unfolding process: "Support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control..." Each quality builds upon the last, creating a rich tapestry of character. The purpose? "For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful."

Fruitfulness doesn't happen overnight. Just as an orchard takes years of cultivation before yielding a harvest, spiritual growth requires patient development. Yet each small step matters—every choice to respond with love instead of anger, every decision to practice generosity instead of selfishness helps shape us into people who naturally produce good fruit.

Where are you in this growth process? Which of these qualities feels most challenging for you right now? Rather than being discouraged by how far you have to go, celebrate the growth that's already happening. God sees the full picture of who you're becoming, even when progress seems slow.

Daily Action Steps:

  1. From Peter's list (faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, mutual affection, love), choose one quality to consciously practice today.
  2. Identify one person whose spiritual fruitfulness inspires you, and consider what you can learn from their example.
  3. Take a moment to thank God for growth you've experienced over the past year, however small it might seem.

Prayer: Growth-giving God, thank you for the patient work you're doing in my life. When I become impatient with my progress, remind me that fruit develops season by season. May the qualities you're cultivating in me increasingly overflow to benefit others. Amen.

Breath Prayer: (Inhale) Growing in grace... (Exhale) bearing fruit in time.

Location: Monroe, OH, USA

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