Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines faith as "akin to trust", "loyalty", or "belief in the traditional doctrines of religion". But the Bible tells us that "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see". (Hebrews 11:1)2 Timothy 3 tells us that the Holy Scriptures make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. And that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching.
You can't gain wisdom without studying. You can't expect to automatically know Algebra or Latin if you don't spend ample time learning! And, once we learn it, we must practice it to retain that knowledge. I don't know about you, but there are many things that I learned in school that I have forgotten from non-use. The knowledge is deep in there somewhere, but it is not at the ready. I would need to refresh this knowledge to make it usable. These same principles apply to faith! If we don't study God's LIVING Word, we won't grow because "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word." (Romans 10:17)
Faith is like muscles. The more you exercise it, the stronger it grows. As most of you know, I injured my back over two years ago. I have had two major back surgeries in the span of the past 15 months. I learned a lot through this experience both physically and spiritually. One thing I learned was that with this type of injury, your core muscles shut down and go into preservation mode. When this happens, you have the potential to do even more damage to your spine because your core muscles are what hold your spine in place while you move. If your muscles shut down, they aren't doing their job.
Another thing I learned is that I now have a lot of scar tissue. This tissue is living (this was news to me!) and definitely unwanted. It serves no good purpose. It does nothing but cause me pain and limited mobility. But my physical therapist taught me that the more I work the muscles surrounding this tissue, the more the blood flows to that area. And the more the blood flows to that area, the more it will diminish the scar tissue until it will eventually be gone. Now, think about this in spiritual terms. The unwanted things in our lives, or sins if you will, (admit it, we all have them) are like scar tissue. They serve no good purpose and cause pain. So, how do we get rid of it? We work our "spiritual muscles" so that these unwanted things will be diminished to the point of non-existence!
So, let's not take our faith for granted. Let's spend quality time learning God's Word and gaining wisdom and strength. Let us exercise our faith because it is a powerful thing. Matthew 17:20 tells us that even faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. Nothing is impossible for us! Then we must use that faith for God's glory because without faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)
If you take anything at all away from this, I pray that it will be the following. "To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith so precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 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, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 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 1:1-8
© 2011 Stephanie Kepler
