Monsters and mountains – we have to conquer them. There is no way around it. We need to fight every step of the way to climb our mountains; we need to chase our monsters instead of our monsters chasing us.

The apostle Peter probably never forgot the horrible night when he was too weak to stand up for his best friend, the night when he cowered by the fire, denied who he was, and betrayed a friendship. The one person he admired most, the precious person near and dear to his heart, the One to whom he defiantly said just moments ago: I will die for you – he betrayed Him. And the worst thing about it: The Lord already knew. He turned around and looked him in the eye right about the time the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered. Jesus had actually told him that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. How ashamed he felt that night, how miserable and worthless, nobody can tell.

Peter emerged from this nightmare a much humbler person. And here is his recommendation: Add to your faith. In other words: grow. Everything changes and so must our faith. Our faith matures. Our inability to accept change stunts our growth and keeps our faith small. On the other hand, when we embrace change, face our fears, and climb every mountain our faith is bound to grow.

After His resurrection Jesus asked Peter three times: “Do you love me?” That is a question we also need to answer. Our love for Him is the most important part of our faith. Jesus loves us – that’s why we believe. We believe – that’s why we love Him.