One of my favorite illustrations has always been the old "Is the glass half empty or half full?"
A glass half full of water(or in this case, juice) is perceived by one person as being just that, half full. Where another person will see the glass as half empty. And so it is with each of us in our faith: one will perceive himself as having great faith, another may see himself with little faith. (see Romans 12:3)
But ,we have all been given the same portion of faith to start with. Each of us our responsible for our own faith: how it grows, how we use it, and how it develops through trials.
The true value of our faith is how we put it into play in our everyday lives. There is no way we can be a benefit to others spiritually if we do not trust and put into action that faith that we Christians already possess.
,that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-
to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph.3:17-19)
The greek word for fullness is pleroma, which means: the full complement of. So if we are indwelled with the fullness of God, that means all of Him is within us. We have the complete package! All we have to do is choose to live by faith,and begin to act, think,and walk in that mindset.
What defines our character in Christ is our faith. It doesn't matter what others believe. What matters is what you believe. When Jesus was looking for disciples He said, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Mth. 4:19)
Notice He said, "Follow Me", He didn't say follow after a certain church, or to follow after a certain religion, He simply said, "Follow Me". The other point He is making here is that when we do choose to follow Him, we are allowing Him to do a work within us so that we may reach others to Christ. This takes faith. You may think that you have no faith or are lacking in faith, but if you've chosen to follow after Christ, you have faith. The Apostle Paul says to :
"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? (2Cor. 13:5)
The best way to test our faith and acknowledge that Christ does live inside of us, is by living and walking it out in our daily lives, for,
He who abides in Him ought himself also walk just as He walked. (1Jn.2:6)
My my, but you have been busy, haven't you? I missed some of your posts.
ReplyDeleteDo you think everyone has been given the same portion of faith? I have not understood that passage to be saying that, exactly. I'll have to go back and study it some more.
I see that glass and the first thing that crosses my mind, is not whether it is half full or empty, but which of my kids left half a glass of juice for the dog to knock over. ;-)
I believe that God has given each of us the same measure of faith..it would be hard for me personally to think God would give one person more faith than another. My dog would probably drink the juice, he loves licking off the floor!
ReplyDeleteI would love to continue the discussion regarding the source and amount of faith some time, if you are willing. But I am sure that you and I can agree that the issue of utmost importance is where that faith is anchored. Meaning, if we place our faith (even if it were as small as a mustard seed) in Christ, we have a sure hope. :-)
ReplyDeletesure!! yeah, i tend to forget about faith the size of a mustard seed. Lately i've noticed some Christians who don't seem to be growing in the Lord(their walk, their faith)this bothers me alot, because I know they are going to church!! this is one of the reasons why I started this blog, was to build up people's faith and trust in the Lord.
ReplyDelete