If you say that you know this then do you act that way? How often do we say, ‘I don’t feel (fill in the blank)’ especially when related to spiritual issues? Can we not believe unless we also feel? Or is the definition of ‘feel’ a relative issue? A different question is – is the level of your conviction, confidence in what you believe the test of how you respond to challenges to your faith? Can you allow for differences of understanding to determine how you respond? How do you respond when there is error? Do you operate on a ‘come let us reason together’ approach to understanding?
If we wait till we ‘feel’ or ‘see’ then is it really faith? When you wait to act until you do feel or see, then you operate on knowledge (see) and emotion (feel) rather than faith. Faith, in my world of definitions, demands a higher degree of personal commitment. Google ‘spiritual definition of faith’ and the answer is:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Google goes on to explain;
“…Faith is the connecting power into the spiritual realm, which links
us with God and makes Him become a tangible reality to the sense
perception of a person.”
The Bible Study Tools (.com) states:
“Belief, trust, and loyalty to a person or thing. Christians find their
security and hope in God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and say ‘amen’
to that unique relationship to God in the Holy Spirit through love
and obedience as expressed in lives of discipleship and service.”
These are only beginnings in understanding faith. The crucial question is do we express faith in our behavior/actions and words? If the only way another person would know that you have faith is if you tell them… then, is there evidence of your faith?
When you look at Ephesians 6 and note that faith is part of the armor of God, what does this tell you?
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you
can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;” (v. 16)
Faith is a powerful ‘tool’ in our arsenal to live the abundant life that Jesus purchased for us. It is a main weapon/shield in our arsenal to walk in the world we live in. Yes, faith is a feeling… that only begins the discovery of all that this word is and does.
