Raising Our Sails (Part 2)
There is a Time for Everything: Cultivating an Atmosphere of Strong Faith
Faith is an extremely powerful spiritual force, and we need lots of faith!
Faith is what enables us to expect and receive great things from God. It's not something that we can work up, but it is something that we can open our spirits to receive in full measure if we're strong in the Word, if we're willing to let go of the past, if we're humble and obedient and putting on the Lord's mind--As we live in the Word and let His power flow through us, we will become the living Word, a living testimony of God's power and promises--So be humbly confident in the Lord's anointing in you, and the fact that the anointing is going to grow. Maria Fontaine
Clearly, doing as these passages advise takes effort. “Put to death,” “put away,” and “put on” are all actions. None of these things—whether putting on kindness, humility, patience, compassion, or putting away anger, malice, covetousness, evil desire—happens naturally. They are the fruit of a life transformed and empowered by the Holy Spirit as we follow what Scripture teaches, as we apply our faith to our life. They have to do with intentional spiritual growth, with the development of Christian character, which, like any kind of training, involves disciplining oneself to do certain things in a certain way. Once one has put in the time and effort to train, to break old habits, and to build new ones, then “putting off” the negatives and “putting on” the positives becomes more natural, as we are gradually changed by the Holy Spirit.
When speaking of putting effort toward disciplining oneself, I don’t mean to infer that this is something we can do on our own, without God’s help or grace—we most certainly can’t. But neither can we expect the Holy Spirit to change us without any effort or action on our part. We struggle with sin throughout our lives, and while God forgives us for our sins, we are expected to endeavor to avoid sinning. We are to “put to death” and “put away” those things which draw us away from Christlikeness, and to “put on” a new self, to live as best we can as the new creature that we have become in Christ.
I think most of us try to do this, and we are moderately successful at it. However, the more I’ve studied and learned about our faith, the more deeply I’ve understood the significant difference that living what Scripture teaches makes in one’s life. Putting in the effort and self-discipline to intentionally work toward growth in Christlikeness brings greater happiness, relationship with God, sense of fulfillment, and joyful living.
I recently read the analysis of a survey by Michael A. Zigarelli, a Christian author, showing comparisons between what the author called low-virtue, average-virtue, and high-virtue Christians.11 He was trying to find out what made high-virtue Christians different. His results showed that of the 5,000 Christians surveyed, most were average-virtue Christians. He then went on to identify the differences between the average and the high-virtue Christians. Those he categorized as high-virtue were those who put effort into doing specific things which resulted in Christian character growth. He also made the point that average-virtue Christians could, with some extra effort, become high-virtue ones. (Continued in Final)
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Future Prospects: Work those Spiritual Muscles!
(Jesus:) With each test you face, the process will become more and more clear, until your faith muscles are strong and exercised and you can put them to use with a moment's hesitation. Teach of you will become as a Prizefighter, One of My Commandos, Skilled and Trained for all Scenarios, and Ready for the Darkest Days that will Ever Fall Upon the World."
Directors Corner TFI