“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” (2 Peter 1:8).

This is an explanation of the process Peter mentions in the previous verses. “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” (2 Peter 1:5-7).

Our spiritual growth doesn’t mean that we immediately gain all of these qualities at once. We acquire them in increasing measure. As our faith grows, we zealously pursue an increase in each of these other characteristics. When we first believe God sees us as righteous because of what Jesus has done for us. As we walk with Him we will, for the rest of our lives, see an increase of the fruit of what God has done for us.

Don’t be discouraged by the time it takes to grow up. We have the righteousness of God given to us by our faith in Jesus. We start with that. As we walk with Him our faith will grow and we will look more and more like Him. It’s best to measure our growth over time and see how much we, as believers, are being changed into the person God already sees us to be. Peter simply gives us a list of things we measure by as we grow.