How to Grow in Faith: Knowing Christ More Deeply

Second Peter 3:18 explains how Christian growth is rooted in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, especially when faith feels slow, uncertain, or difficult to measure.

Many Christians wonder how to grow in faith when spiritual progress is difficult to see. Questions remain, old habits return, and seasons of discouragement can make faith feel less like steady growth and more like repeated starting over. It is easy to measure maturity by emotion, consistency, or comparison with other believers. Yet Scripture points us toward a different starting place: not an impressive record of improvement, but a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Near the end of his second letter, Peter gives a concise command that brings this question into focus: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18) The verse is brief, but it gathers together the direction, foundation, and purpose of Christian maturity. Believers are called to keep growing, that growth is centered on Christ, and its final aim is the glory of Christ rather than the praise of the believer. The command appears at the close of a letter concerned with spiritual confusion and instability. Peter addresses false teachers and questions surrounding the promised return of Christ. He urges believers to remember what they have been taught, to live holy and godly lives, and to regard the Lord’s patience as an opportunity for salvation. In that setting, the instruction to grow is not a suggestion to collect religious information for its own sake. It is a call to remain established in Christ when misleading voices, impatience, and uncertainty could pull believers away from the truth. This context also helps explain why Peter speaks of growing in both grace and knowledge. Grace points to God’s undeserved favor. Christian growth does not begin with earning acceptance or proving spiritual worth. It begins with receiving what God gives freely. The believer’s relationship with God is not built on a perfect performance, and maturity is not a way to compensate for past failure. Grace remains the foundation as growth continues. Knowledge, however, is not reduced to accumulating facts. Peter directs believers toward the knowledge of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” To know Christ is to become increasingly grounded in who He is and what He has done. This knowledge involves learning from Scripture, recognizing His character, trusting His promises, and allowing the truth about Him to shape everyday decisions. It is informed and personal without becoming detached from obedience. The more clearly believers understand Christ, the more their lives can be ordered around Him rather than around fear, confusion, or self-reliance. Together, grace and knowledge protect Christian growth from two opposite errors. Knowledge without grace can become pride, defensiveness, or an attempt to prove superiority. A language of grace without growing knowledge can become vague and disconnected from the person of Jesus. Peter holds the two together. The believer grows by receiving God’s favor with humility and by seeking to know Christ with increasing clarity and faithfulness. This gives a realistic answer to the question of how to grow in faith. Growth is ongoing, which means it may not always feel dramatic. A Christian can still have unanswered questions, struggle with recurring sin, or experience a season in which prayer feels difficult. None of these realities should be treated lightly, but neither should they automatically be interpreted as evidence that faith is absent. Peter’s command assumes that growth is a continuing process. It makes room for learning, repentance, patience, and renewed dependence on Christ. The verse also challenges the habit of measuring faith only by visible progress. Comparison can distort spiritual life in either direction. Someone may feel discouraged because another believer appears more confident or disciplined. Someone else may become proud of improvements that are real but incomplete. Second Peter 3:18 redirects attention from comparison to Christ. The question is not whether a person can display an impressive spiritual image, but whether he or she is continuing to receive grace and grow in the knowledge of Jesus. That truth matters in ordinary circumstances. It matters when a difficult decision exposes how much control we want to retain. It matters when criticism reveals impatience, when disappointment exposes fragile trust, or when a familiar temptation returns. These moments can become occasions to ask what the truth about Christ requires of us. His grace invites honest repentance rather than hiding. Knowledge of Him calls for more than abstract agreement; it shapes the way we speak, respond, forgive, persevere, and make choices. Growing in faith also matters when spiritual life feels stagnant. Instead of trying to manufacture stronger feelings, a believer can return to the reliable means of knowing Christ. Read the supplied verse in the context of its chapter. Pay attention to what it reveals about God’s patience, the call to holy living, and the danger of being carried away by error. Write down one truth about Jesus that deserves trust. Then consider one attitude or decision that should change because that truth is true. Small acts of attentive obedience can become part of a faithful pattern over time. A helpful practice is to choose one concrete way to pursue both grace and knowledge. This might mean reading Scripture more carefully, asking a mature Christian to help clarify a difficult teaching, confessing a repeated sin instead of excusing it, or thanking Christ specifically for grace already received. These practices do not purchase spiritual maturity. They place the believer in a posture of dependence, where growth is understood as God-centered rather than self-produced. Peter’s closing words keep this pursuit from becoming another form of self-improvement. He ends by saying, “To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” The goal of growth is not to admire our progress or build an identity around being spiritually advanced. It is to give Jesus Christ the honor He deserves in the present and forever. Even the desire to mature must be brought under worship. So, how do you grow in faith? You grow by turning repeatedly toward Jesus Christ: receiving His grace rather than relying on your record, seeking knowledge of Him rather than settling for vague belief, and allowing what you learn to shape your life. Progress may be gradual, and some seasons may feel hidden. But Christian maturity is not measured by never struggling. It is seen in continued dependence on Christ, steadiness in His truth, and a life increasingly directed toward His glory.