News > North America

2 Peter 3:11-12a “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”

St. George UBF had a new year retreat from December 30 to January 1 at Crieff Hills Community near Guelph. We studied the book of 2 Peter with the theme, “Live Holy and Godly Lives.” We had factual studies and learned how to study the Bible. Our leaders, Sheila Htoo, Wah Paw and Samuel Mukwedeya, delivered the messages. Sheila delivered a message on chapter 1, “Participate in the divine nature by God’s divine power (Live a holy and godly life).” She explained that many Christians struggle with “imposter syndrome.” When she started her PhD program, she felt like an imposter. She thought and acted like she didn’t deserve to be in the PhD program. She was nervous, afraid and insecure because she didn’t feel qualified or deserving to be there. She wasn’t confident and sure about my position. Only after her close classmate rebuked her to stop feeling and acting like an imposter did she learn to become more confident and certain about herself and her position! Likewise, many might feel the same way about their calling as God’s chosen children: they don’t fully understand the significance of God’s calling or they still feel like sinners undeserving of this high calling. Perhaps, they are unclear about what was supposed to happen after they receive God’s calling. Or they do not know that they are supposed to continually grow in Christ, living a holy and godly life. She encouraged us to make every effort to grow in the images of Christ. Wah Paw delivered a message on chapter 2, “Watch out for false teachers.” While preparing her message, she was confused by some articles claiming that respectful pastors like Tim Keller and Charles Stanley are false teachers because of some minor theological differences. She testified how important it is to be rooted in God’s words and be filled with the knowledge of God for discernments. We need to look at their motives and characteristics so that we may watch out for false teachers. Sam delivered a message on chapter 3, “Look forward to the day of the Lord.” When we think of living a holy life, we usually think of monks living in a monastery praying all the time and living an austere life. It looks very dry and no fun. But it is not what the Bible teaches. He gave an example Ruth who lived a holy and godly life. Ruth lived a very ordinary life. In fact, it was a difficult life. Her husband died young. She was poor. She had to work in someone else’s field. Yet, she revealed God’s love in her love for her mother-in-law. “Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.” She revealed God’s faithfulness when she turned her back on her idol worshiping culture. She said, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” She revealed that God is a redeemer through her life. We regard her holy and godly not because she was extraordinary or special but that in every critical choice, she always chose God, which is the very essence of what it means to live a holy and godly life. We will study the life of faith of Hannah, Daniel and Joseph. We learned that as we look forward to the day of the Lord, we should live holy and godly lives. Come, Lord Jesus.