Lift that Listless Faith! (Part 2)

“It is a shame for a person to have been a Christian for years but not to have advanced beyond the knowledge of his salvation."   - Theodore Epp

Our Christian journey of faith is life-long, and there will be many ups and downs along the way (James 1:12). As a result of this, our faith can take a beating, so much so, that many just simply give up. But it doesn't have to come to that.

In Part 1, we spoke about the importance of faith and how we can energize it by reading the Bible. We then turned our attention to hope. We found that a fortified hope is essential to our spiritual well-being.

Again, both of these components are energized and fortified by consistent and earnest reading of the Bible. Now we turn our attention to another fundamental element needed to reinvigorate a lagging faith; love (1 John 4:8). 

The Apostle Paul provides an excellent definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. For simplicity's sake we will call this, "active goodwill."  Love is too important to just rush through, so let's take a little time to examine it.

How important is "love" to a Christian's faith? By showing our love toward others we assure ourselves of our salvation (1 John 3:14, 18-19). But we also must also include truth in our actions. 

Next, the expression of love toward others is pleasing to God. Thereby, instilling confidence that He will answer our prayers (1 John 3:22-23). And a floundering faith needs every bit of confidence it can get!

Finally, when we show our love to those around us, it reassures us that we abide in God, and that He dwells within us, too ( 1 John 4:7-8, 12, 16). It's comforting to know that not even our spiritual apathy can drive Him away (Matthew 28:20).

Thus far in the series, we've spoken about the need to "energize" our faith, and "fortify" or reinforce our hope. Love requires that it first be "activated" or initiated before we can properly express it towards others as God meant. For example...

In 1 Thessalonians 4:9, Paul doesn't feel he has to teach this to the Thessalonians as he is confident that they had already learned this lesson from God. And 1 John 3:16 declares that by His sacrificial life, Jesus taught us how to love.

This seems like a good place to stop for now. I suggest that a good review of both, Part 1 and this discussion would be worthwhile. Meanwhile, I do hope that you will  join me for the next installment of this lesson series.

Until next time, I pray that all may go well with you!

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:14; 1 Peter 4:8; Romans 13:8; 1 Timothy 1:5; Ephesians 4:2

 

Prayer: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."  - Galatians 2:20

In Christ,

Claire