Because you have these blessings, do your best to add these things to your lives: to your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge;

and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add patience; and to your patience, add service for God; and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness, add love. 

2 Peter 1:5-7 (NCV)

Our faith is a lot like a recipe. What we get out of it has everything to do with what we put into it. If we want a solid faith with complete dependence on Jesus, we have to put in the right ingredients: goodness, knowledge, self-control, patience, service for God, kindness, and love. According to Peter, each of us, by faith, has access to all of these qualities. But on own, none of us can add a single one to our lives. Only the work of Jesus, along with our faith, enable us to add all the right ingredients and become divine creations.

When following any recipe, there are specific things that must be done if we want tasty results. First, we need to have all the right ingredients. Even one missing element could greatly alter the results. We also must follow the instructions, because doing them wrong, or worse, making up our own instructions, would definitely lead to disaster. But when we follow God’s instructions, as taught in the Bible, and we prayerfully seek His wisdom, we can effectively add all of these key ingredients to our lives. 

Unlike recipes in the kitchen, there are no substitutions in faith. Your growth will come through constant prayer, solid Biblical teaching, intentional Bible study, and Christian fellowship. Only God can empower you to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, patience, service for God, kindness, and love to your life, mix them together well, and become spiritually mature. If you lack any of these ingredients, ask Him to pour them in. Recipes teach you to look ahead, to anticipate the end result. So keep your eyes on Jesus, and follow His perfect recipe. The end result will far exceed anything you have ever tasted! You are loved!