Have you ever looked at your life and wondered if any of it really matters? Pastor Josh White asked that question head-on in a sermon built around one of the most practical passages in the Bible — 2 Peter 1:5-11. His answer: don’t waste your life by being fruitless. Instead, pursue the seven qualities that make you useful to God.
Why Fruitfulness Matters
Pastor Josh opened with a story that many in Phoenix could relate to. Three years ago, he decided to replace a dead orange tree in his backyard with two new fruit trees — a blood red orange and a fruit cocktail tree. He planted them in April 2020, committed to watering and fertilizing them faithfully. Then the summer of 2020 hit: over 53 days above 110 degrees. Despite his best efforts, the trees didn’t survive.
They sat in his backyard — alive, but useless and fruitless. They took up space. They gave nothing back.
That’s the picture God gives us in Scripture of what a believer looks like when they’re not pursuing growth. Psalm 1 describes the blessed man as a tree “planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” God’s desire for every Christian is that we would be useful and fruitful — not just saved, but purposeful.
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”
— 2 Peter 1:5-7
The First Four: Getting Ourselves Right
Peter lists seven qualities to pursue. The first four are more internal — they deal with your relationship with God and your own spiritual formation:
- Virtue — A heroic, courageous faith. Confidence that God is who He says He is, leading to a public, committed walk with Christ.
- Knowledge — Filling your mind with God’s will so you can discern between the world’s lies and the truth.
- Self-Control — Not wandering from the faith or getting caught up in the things God saved you from.
- Steadfastness — Perseverance when times get hard. Not giving up.
These are the log-first qualities. Get your own heart right before looking outward.
Godliness: Put God First
Then Peter turns to the externally focused qualities. First up: godliness — a word that means reverence, worship, and putting God first in every area of your life. It’s the Greek word that was originally used to describe pagans worshiping false gods, but the New Testament writers sanctified it to describe true worship of the living God.
“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather, train yourself for godliness… for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is a value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
— 1 Timothy 4:7-8
Godliness with contentment is great gain. If you put God first and are content with what He’s given you — not chasing happiness in material things — that’s true spiritual gain. It affects every part of your life today and points you toward the life to come.
Brotherly Affection: Love Your Neighbor
If godliness is loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, then brotherly affection is loving your neighbor as yourself. When you think about other people, what rises up in you? Frustration? Jealousy? Resentment? Or do you genuinely desire what God wants for them?
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law… You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment are summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
— Romans 13:9-10
A sign that you’re living a fruitful life for God’s glory: you look at another person and genuinely want what’s best for them — not what makes them happy, but what God wants for them.
Love: Want What God Wants for Others
The seventh and highest quality is love — agape love. Not warm fuzzy feelings, but wanting what’s truly best for another person. For the unsaved, that means wanting them to know the truth that leads to salvation. For believers, that means wanting them to grow in Christlikeness — to be godly, content, and mature.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven… You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
— Matthew 5:43-44, 48
This is humbling. God loves everyone He made — not just the people who look like us, think like us, or agree with us. Jesus loves the whole world equally (John 3:16). We are to pursue that kind of love.
The Warning: Don’t Be That Tree
Peter doesn’t leave us without a warning. Verse 8 is striking: if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But if you lack them? You’re blind. Nearsighted. You’ve forgotten that you were cleansed from your former sins. You’re like that useless orange tree in Josh’s backyard — taking up space, producing nothing.
Think of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25). The master gave three servants talents. Two invested them and doubled them. The third buried his in the ground. He still had a relationship with the master — but when the master returned, he received no reward. He was idle and barren. Salvation wasn’t the issue. Fruitfulness was.
The Promise: A Rich Welcome Home
But if you do pursue these seven qualities — here’s the promise:
“For if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
— 2 Peter 1:10-11
You will never be controlled by fear, despair, or doubt. And when you stand before Christ at the bema — the judgment seat where our sins are not judged but our faithfulness is — you’ll hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Paul captured this same hope: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
So What?
The world measures success very differently than God does. There will be many believers who were financially successful, professionally accomplished, and impressive by human standards — but who stand before Christ having wasted their lives because they never pursued godliness. They were saved by grace but never became useful.
That’s not a call to legalism. It’s a call to purpose. God didn’t save you to sit in the backyard doing nothing. He saved you to be fruitful.
Pursue these seven qualities. Get your internal life right with God. Then love Him, love your neighbor, and love everyone — even the difficult people, even the people who are different from you. Because one day, you will see Jesus face to face. And you want to hear: “You didn’t waste your life.”
Scripture References
- Psalm 1:1-3 — The blessed man is like a fruitful tree
- 2 Peter 1:5-11 — Supplement your faith with the seven qualities
- 1 Timothy 4:7-8 — Train yourself for godliness
- 1 Timothy 6:6 — Godliness with contentment is great gain
- Romans 13:9-10 — Love fulfills the law
- Matthew 5:43-48 — Love your enemies
- John 3:16 — God’s love for the entire world
- 2 Timothy 4:8 — The crown of righteousness
- Matthew 25:14-30 — The Parable of the Talents