Faith is an important component in the practice of religion. It is most often associated with Christian religions due to the frequent use of the word in scriptural texts. Jesus spoke about it frequently. As such, faith is understood by Christians as a tool that makes the impossible possible.
Faith and Belief Work Together
Faith and belief work together in the life of the believer to achieve certain goals. But they are not the same thing. Belief is the mental and emotional acknowledgment that something is true. Faith is an action based on that belief. It is the combination of faith and belief together that gets results.
Imagine a young child being encouraged by his father to jump into the swimming pool for the first time. The child believes his father will catch him. Yet his belief alone will not get him into the pool. He won’t be able to enjoy the cool, refreshing water just by believing his father. He must jump.
Jumping is the action of faith. The boy believes his father will catch him and trusts his father enough to actually jump. His decision to jump is the manifestation of his faith.
Faith in Everyday Life
The exercise of faith in everyday life is similar to the boy and swimming pool illustration. God makes certain promises in scripture. In addition, there is a multitude of blessings bestowed by God that are implied. Both are activated by combining belief with faith.
For example, the Bible teaches that God rewards hard work. Therefore, if you desire to be financially prosperous, believe what God says, and commit yourself to work hard, then combining your belief in what God says with an act of faith demonstrated by your hard work will produce the results you desire.
The key here is to not confuse your desires with God’s promises. What you might want in a particular situation may not match up with what God wants for that situation. No amount of belief or faith will change God’s will. For faith to work, it has to be aligned with what God wants.
Faith is a powerful tool when combined with belief. The two work together to accomplish great things in the believer’s life.
This article was originally published at https://aaronparthemer.org/
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