Day Two
Is your faith growing or shrinking?
Yesterday we read in James that you can be RICH in the currency of heaven, which is faith. If that is true, you can also be poor in faith. Jesus said to his disciples that they could ‘grow their faith’, and in fact at times described them as people of ‘little faith.’ In comparison He described the faith of the Syrophoencian woman as “great,” as well as the Centurion’s who asked him to heal his servant.
This means that just like money, the currency of this world, faith can both multiply, or it can shrink and get smaller.
What makes our faith shrink?
Our faith shrinks when our focus remains on our natural circumstances rather than the supernatural resource we have access to. Remember yesterday we said the word ‘poor’ meant to cower and bend over in a beggarly pose? This pose forces you to look down, to stay focused on your empty hands, the circumstances you find yourself in. It doesn’t have to be material, it can be relational; you may find yourself in a situation where you see yourself poor when it comes to family relationships or in your marriage. It could be in the area of your self worth, or your health, or the possibilities you see for yourself in the future. When you are poor and have nothing you resort to crazy things that you would never do if you were rich. I remember my mother once when we were younger, washing a roast that had started to go off and smell in salt water, scrubbing it, and then cooking it up and feeding it to the family because we simply had no other options to eat that night. (No-one got sick ☺)
How can you tell a Christian has poverty of faith? When they are cynical, negative, critical, suspicious, are tempted to walk away from God. They are like coals that have been disconnected from a fire and as a result begin to lose their heat at a rapid rate.
How can you tell a person rich in faith? They are generous. They are forgiving. They speak kindly. They don’t shoot their mouths off. They don’t spread gossip. They want to be in church and attend God’s house. They want to share Jesus with others.
This next 38 days we are focusing intentionally on growing our faith. Today write a list of the areas of your life that you want to grow your faith in.
Scripture to meditate on: Luke 12:1-34