1 Corinthians 1:9, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Should operating in faith require so much faith? That may sound like a strange question but (after almost 20 years of following Jesus) I still struggle.
As I was thinking about this particular issue, I was reminded of 2 Peter 1:2-8:
"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Here's why I believe the passage out of 2 Peter is so important:
Peter never tells us to add faith to our faith. Why? I believe it's because faith is to be the first ingredient in our walk with Christ. Without faith we are not able to activate the grace that is needed for salvation. We must believe - we must have faith - and we must walk in it. What Peter does teach us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is that we are to add something to our faith. In fact, verses 5-7 provide building blocks to growing in our faith. The culmination of all these things results in a fruitfulness in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is this intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ that helps us to trust in the faithfulness of God.
The size of your faith doesn't matter. It's not about having more. It is the quality of your faith that allows you to trust fully in the promises of God. As I grow in these areas of life, I will discover that trusting in God becomes easier. Think about this in the natural: The better I know someone, the easier it is to trust them. It is this experiential knowledge that stirs up faith within me.
Regardless of where we may be in our journey, 1 Corinthians 1:9 is still true. God is faithful. The psalmist David said, "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." This knowledge of God came from a lifetime of devotion to His Creator. David understood that it was the faithfulness of God that led to the fruitfulness of the believer.
Operating in faith should not require so much faith. No...it simply requires faith. Faith that believes that God is faithful to His Word. Faith that believes whatever God says to be true. Faith that has learned to trust in what it cannot see. How is this possible? This type of faith is possible as we grow in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Got faith?
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