This morning in the young adult Sunday School class we had a discussion about faith. We talked about those times in Scripture where Jesus rebuked his disciples, "O ye of little faith!" and then those times when Jesus commended individuals for their faith. We explored the definition of faith which included the words: trust and assurance.
But I must admit that throughout the whole lesson my mind was not necessarily on faith but on the character of God. As I pondered the correlation between God's character and faith, I began to realize how imperative it is for the Christ follower to know the character of God. It is of utmost importance that we allow God to reveal His character to us through both His word and our interactions with Him in prayer.
When I look at the many times in my life when I begin to be faith-less or become anxious, it is usually when I have lost sight of who God is. And what do I mean by that, I mean that I have lost sight of His character, the attributes that make God God! (More on this in a minute.)
There is no doubt that faith and trust are intricately linked and many times we use the terms interchangeably in the church realm. Let's look at all of this from a natural rather than just a spiritual perspective for a moment.
Those individuals in my life that I trust, that I have faith in, are those people who I have had the experience of learning their character. I have found that those people, while they are human and will no doubt let me down or hurt me, have a depth of character that allows me to feel safe enough to share my life and heart with them, to trust them, to have faith in them.
Part of me can't help but wonder if this whole idea isn't why God calls us to a personal relationship with Him rather than a religion. With religion, we just learn rules and why we need behavior modification. With relationship, we learn His character and His heart! And then, He is gracious enough to reveal to us who we are in Him!
When I know His character, it is a lot easier for me to have faith in Him! I know He is faithful, I know He is loving and I know that He is not a man that He should lie! I know that He is good and I know that He is merciful! I know that He is gracious and that He is peace!
Sooo, maybe I did pay a little more attention in Sunday School than it seemed!
Faith and the character of God, I don't think you can have the former without knowing the latter!
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