The piety

Tuesday April 20, 2021

The piety

Join to your faith, the virtue ; to virtue, the knowledge ; to knowledge, the self-control ; to self-control, the patience ; and to patience, the piety... 2 Peter 1: 5-8

The piety is the set of spiritual disciplines that enable a believer to have a personal relationship with God. It is essentially based on meditation on the Word of God and prayer. It is about learning to live in the presence of God, to experience his love and grace, to acquire the ability to think, speak and act in accordance with the thoughts of God.

It is the love of God for you that impels you to piety : you know how far the love of the Father and the love of Jesus Christ have gone. If someone loves you, you love them too, you think about them often, you come into frequent contact with them, you open your heart to them, you tell them about your plans and everything that concerns your life. Well ! the piety is doing the same with Jesus Christ.

Do not think that, in a world where violence and lies reign, the piety constitutes a handicap for your school or professional life ! Indeed, the apostle Paul declares that the piety is useful for all things, having the promise of the life present and the life to come (1 Timothy 4: 8). Many Christians have experienced this at one time or another, sometimes after a great deal of patience.

In the preceding verse (v. 7) Paul invites young Timothy to practice the piety himself. He thus refers to the training of Olympic athletes who force themselves to daily efforts and to respect a diet. This means that piety does not come by chance and that it is an everyday training, with its failures and its victories. We grow in piety through the assiduous reading of the Word of God and the regular practice of prayer. The believer thus progresses more and more in a life of free and happy relations with God, a life of communion with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

This is the secret of a successful life to the glory of God and for the joy of those who realize it !

Source (Pleasing the Lord)