Yes, I do write a great deal about faith. It has so many attributes, aspects, and applications that I probably always will. Bottom line: I believe faith is indispensable, critical for us to live a full and fruitful life. Recently I heard another comment – (paraphrased) the thing about faith is that it’s always there whenever you choose to return to it. Again, the ‘fullness’ of faith and the realization that it is we who depart from faith… and that WE can reverse this.
If you remember the full armor of God, faith is one of the pieces of our equipping:
“…In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;” (Ephesians 6:16, ESV)
One translation states this a little stronger: “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,” (Berean Study Bible) – (‘addition’ is referring to the other parts of the full armor of God). The NKJV states it as: ‘above all’, the Christian Standard Bible says – ‘In every situation’. This should demonstrate just how important Faith is and how it should be considered.
So if Faith is this important, if it has this much power… do we live in faith? Do our actions and words define, describe, and express that this is our mindset, our frame of reference? Probably not, at least not consistently. But rather than standing still in our lack of applying faith, what can we do, what should we do?
One thing we can do is to view building up our faith as a process, a continual process of growing in and understanding faith and what it is. Scripture tells us in Romans 12:3, NASB
“…as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”
“For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].” (Ephesians 2:8-9, AMP)
I did underline the 4 key words from the Ephesians verses: grace, saved, faith, gift. If we begin to understand faith in these definitions then we are on our journey of discovering faith and what it is and how it works in our lives. Faith is crucial. But we also have the reassurance that it comes from and has been given us by the Lord. Our responsibility is to exercise and use it… watch it grow.
