"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." (2 Pet 1:10; KJV). The meaning of the Greek word diligence as used in the New Testament is to be zealous or to work hard for something, to make every effort and to exert oneself. In Hebrews 4:11 the writer exhorts us to be diligent to enter into God’s rest. King Solomon in his proverbs, (Prov 8:17) directed us to seek wisdom diligently and to (Prov 4:23) guard our hearts with diligence.

The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans (Rom 12:11) admonished us not to be lagging in diligence but instead to be: "fervent in spirit". Fervent is a very similar word to diligence and it means to be burning hot.  

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about diligence and the benefits of diligence are found in that book. If we seek wisdom with diligence, we will find it (Prov 8:17) and people who have a diligent approach to life will be successful (Prov 21:5; 13:4)   As Christians diligence should be part of our character. Effort is required to be diligent as it is the opposite of laziness but the effort will certainly pay off because the Bible teaches us that the amount of effort, we put into something determines how much fruit we bear (Phil 3:14).

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