Developing Christian Virtue (3)

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. - II Peter 1:5-8

Remember, we started looking at things that block virtue. The ones we looked at yesterday was Bitterness and Pleasure, today, we will examine others.

Stubbornness/ self-will/ independent spirit: These block your virtue. Stubbornness is when you have made up your mind before God speaks. In Esther 1:9-19, we see the king requesting for Vashti to come and show her beauty. She felt that the invitation was too mean. She forgot that she was queen because the king was her husband. The wise men advised the king to look for one better than her to take her position. Beloved when God wants to do a thing in the world, he starts to change positions and rearrange things. The independent who do not care about where God has placed them in the body of Christ, will lose their place like Vashti

Domineering Spirit: when people become domineering, this blocks virtue.

Religious spirit: This also blocks virtue- it manifests when people have a form of godliness with no trace of eternal life, yet they can fast severally without any life of God. Fasting to them is bribing God to change his mind, but God's mind is made up to bless you. God hears you because you believe his words and not fasting in unbelief. His mind is made up to bless you. If virtue is there with faith, it works wonders. You pray and fast to commit your future unto God to go ahead of you. Under the New Testament fasting is not punishment but an ascent to higher, deeper life in him. Do not get involved in legalism or idolatry. You must know when to switch from prayer to praise. Jehoshaphat stopped praying and praised God after a prophetic word had gone forth. Prayer is not just praying to impress God. Your fasting does not change God, it changes you.