Days turn into months and years and decades - and it’s possible to grow older without changing or maturing. Perhaps there is a better version of yourself and of your life that you can envision. But what would it actually take to arrive there in the future?

2 Peter 1:3-11

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;

and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, a make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,

and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Our words are powerful. They can reflect what is happening inside of us, which means they can also be evidence of how God is transforming us! And our words can help transform others. How can we use our words this summer to encourage people around us?

Ephesians 4:17-29

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

That, however, is not the way of life you learned

when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

“In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

and do not give the devil a foothold.

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Proverbs 18:21

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Matthew 12:34

For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Proverbs 16:24

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

What is the definition of the good life? We all have an idea, but sometimes God’s definition of the good life is not exactly the same as our definition of good. One of the best parts of the good life as God defines it, is that there is no condemnation in Jesus. Because of Jesus we are forgiven and made right with God. God sees us without blemish or defect. So what will it take for us to experience this truth in our lives?

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:1-4 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,

In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.