Moral excellence is the first thing that a Christian should be concerned about (2 Peter 1:5). Although this goes against the grain of our thinking, virtue is of greater importance than knowledge. I don’t think that Peter is saying that you should just work on being morally pure and never read the Bible until you have it under control. But he is saying that this characteristic ought to be the first thing that you add to your faith.

My wife and I lived in Niagara, Wisconsin while I was attending Northland. The Lord blessed me with the opportunity to have a Bible Study with a tenant’s live-in boyfriend. We began with Jim Berg’s Basics for Believers and were able to progress through a chapter or two. But then something happened. When I confronted him about his immorality, the Bible Study was over.

Studying the Bible takes effort, but most believers (or unbelievers) don’t find reading a few verses a day or memorizing a verse to be difficult. Knowledge is important, but it can be crammed into your head without making any difficult changes. Moral issues are quite different. Peter tells us that this is the first thing that we need to work on. Without a willingness to address moral issues, knowledge will accomplish nothing.