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The Importance of Feeding our Faith
written by Christy Wimber Feb 25, 2010
The Importance of Feeding Our Faith
How important is faith? If we break down what faith means and why we need faith, what is it exactly about faith that makes it so important? Think about how much faith it takes faith to even believe in Christ. It takes faith to believe that what God says is always right and true, and it takes faith to trust and walk that out each and every day.
However, faith is something that needs to keep growing. If you’re faith doesn’t continue to grow in your relationship with Christ, you won’t have the faith to see God’s Kingdom come not only in your life, but in the lives of those around you. You'll be stuck where you decided to stop growing. Choosing faith in God isn’t a one-time shot. It’s a daily decision and sometimes many times a day where we choose faith in God over and above everything else.
Whatever faith you have inside of you will determine the outcome of the faith level you’ll have for the work of God around you. If you don’t have faith for God to move, there’s a good chance you won’t be looking for anything to take place. You won’t even think of the ways God can change things not only in our own life, but also in the lives of those around you. Think about it. If you don't really believe God heals today, there's a good chance you wont be looking for someone sick to pray for.
Do you realize your life is a message? People tend to be better at watching than listening. They look at what we spend our time, money and energy on. In fact those things will not only determine what your priorities are, but will speak loudly to the people around you how much faith you have in Christ?
When we read all through the Gospels we see how Jesus loved and always responded to anyone that had faith. He loved it. Jesus loved it when those placed their full trust in Him. [Matthew 8:5-13; Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 5:21-24; Luke 19:1-10].
Sometimes I feel like I don’t have enough faith or I’m missing the mark in so many ways. Sometimes I wish I would choose faith in God first rather than putting too much trust in the things around me. If you think about it we have no problems putting our faith in teachers and doctors and leaders, and oftentimes we tend to even go to them first. But I’ve found faith walked out means I first put my faith and trust in God; that He becomes the first person I run too.
It gives me great relief that Jesus said you don’t even need a lot of faith. Jesus in fact said that just a little amount has the power to move mountains. In other words it doesn’t take much faith to do amazing things in your life and in the lives of those around you. [Matthew 17:20; 1 Corinthians 13:2].
In fact Jesus said our faith could be compared to a mustard seed. What’s interesting is that a mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. But it’s still a seed. However a seed is worth more when it continues to grow. You water and feed the seed of your faith by giving it nourishment. We get nourishment by reading Gods Word; worshipping; praying. All those things feed the seed of faith in your life. [Matthew 17:20.]
When we look at the interesting theme in Hebrews chapter 11 it contains the great stories of the amazing people that have gone before us is that these people believed in what God spoke to them, even though some didn’t see things come to pass in their lifetime. It’s like the hall of fame of faith. I’m sure those people had many times of disappointment or were confused at times not seeing things come as they had thought. Yet, they still chose to put their faith and confidence in their God.
How do we get this kind of faith? How do we grow to become more like Jesus to where we trust Him not just because we see things we pray for; but just because we made the decision to trust and have faith.
Faith is a choice. Choosing faith in God everyday is a choice we make over and over again to feed it in the right ways so it continues to grow. The stronger our faith grows the more we begin to trust God and in the ways He leads us.
Try not to think so much about the faith you don’t have. Just begin each day asking ask God to fill you with faith. Timothy tells us that faith is a gift and just like any other gift, we have to ask and receive the gift. So ask God to fill you with faith. Make it a priority for in doing so you’ll find faith growing more and more as you make daily decisions in trusting God.