1:5–7

In these verses Peter wrote about eight traits which should be a part of every Christian’s character. If your language has abstract nouns, for example, “faith,” you can use these, but in many languages it will be necessary to use verbs to talk about these character traits. The Display of 1:5–7 shows examples of how to use verbs to talk about all these character traits.

1:5a

For this very reason: This probably refers to verses 3 and 4 as a unit and means “because of all that God has done for us.”

make every effort: This means “to try very hard.” It means that a person should use all his strength to do this.

add to your faith virtue: If you are using abstract nouns, you could express this idea as:

try hard to develop a good character as well as your faith.

1:5b

knowledge: This may refer to knowing about things in a way that enables a person to decide wisely about what to do as he lives each day. Or it may refer to knowing about God and what he wants his people to do.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.