The Wonderful Gift of FAITH

1 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV84)

to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,

If Faith is what we need to believe in Jesus then how does it work as a gift?

There is the basic Christ Follower faith.

Hebrews 11:1 NIV84

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

The question: Does everyone have the same type and and amount of FAITH?

Romans 12:3 NIV84

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

We are given the gift of FAITH as part of our Christ Follower benefit package when we gave our lives to Christ. But there are various degrees of it that we may have depending on the event, or circumstances with which we face.

Also, our other gifts are enhanced by the measure of faith we have at any given moment.

Does it take the same amount of faith for us to get up in the morning and greet the day as it would to Move that Mountain Jesus talked about in Matthew 17:20–21 “He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.””

And our faith is also very much tied in with our maturity level in our Christian walk. Paul is a great example of that. He knew the Torah backwards and forwards but he was send away so that Christ could mature his faith into what it needed to be to face everything ahead.

But what about those that Christ gives to us that want to follow him but have still almost infant like faith. The scripture states we need to feed the milk and wean them onto solid food. But something else comes first.

Romans 14:1 NIV84

Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

We need to walk beside those who are weak not push them or pull them to cross of Christ.

Is there a way for us to increase our faith gift so we can do even more?

1 Corinthians 13:2 NIV84

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

Look to the LOVE of CHRIST and work at imitating it.

As we grow in faith we need to be constantly open to correction and be able to correct.

Titus 1:13 NIV84

This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith

We are in a culture that says, “O just let it go!” and “It is not our place to judge.” “”Just let the kids be kids.”

But how can any of us grow in our faith if we are no able to learn from other or be willing to help the one struggling with their faith by our observations and our words of correction?

So faith growth is a process:

We start with that measure of faith Christ gives us then we try to imitate Christ’s LOVE by seeking HIM(scripture, fellowship and prayer).

That LOVE will bring purpose and meaning to our faith: 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

As our faith grows then we are enabled to use our other gifts at an even greater level for Christ: 2 Peter 1:5 “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;”

Then we take that even stronger faith and go back to Jesus for our next challenge, person or event to minister through.