A house doesn’t become a home until you add furniture, pictures, plants, and more to make it cozy and comfortable. It’s important also to add memories and fun by opening your home to others and sharing good times together.

The apostle Peter encourages us to “add” to our faith. The Greek word for “add” in this text has an interesting history. Michael Green, a commentator, explains that this word is a metaphor from Greek drama festivals, “in which a rich individual called the choregos (from which we get ‘choreographer’), joined with the poet and the state in putting on the plays. This could be an expensive business,” and yet the choregi aimed to outdo each other in their generosity and training of players and choruses. “Thus the word came to mean generous and costly cooperation.”

Peter used this rich word to help us picture the generous grace of God. We are saved by grace—and this is wholly a gift! Yet we are called to participate as well—to add “good charac-ter, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love” (The Message).

May the Spirit equip us to cooperate with God in living out a Christian life, which is possible only through his generosity and strength. God wants us to be effective and productive in growing to know Jesus, who has added so much to our lives.