about faith

Wow, two posts in one day! Lucky you!

This is just a brief thought/comment. We talk about faith a lot in our world. We are encouraged to have faith in all things. We are taught directly and indirectly that faith has the power to change things. Have faith and...things will get better. Have faith and...you'll see changes. If you want to be successful you have to have faith. If you want to be wealthy you have to have faith. If you want....if you want....if you want.....THEN have faith.
Okay, so I know that seems a bit exaggerated but I'm going to assume that you understand and can resonate with this. We are taught so fervently that faith changes the results, and therefore our faith becomes very self-centered.

The truth is, faith is not faith FOR someTHING, faith is faith IN someONE. Read that again and make sure you understand what I'm saying.

We have faith IN God. Faith teaches us about the personhood of God. Faith teaches us that life is in God's control no matter what. The results??? Ultimately it doesn't matter because that's not the point. Faith teaches us to love and respect God regardless of the circumstances. Having faith doesn't always change the situation but it changes the way that we see the situation. We understand God better by making room to believe in him. The result then, is a deeper understand of who God is. That's what we are here for right?

Think for yourself about faith. What comes to your mind when you think of the importance of faith? Why do you have faith? Why are we taught to have faith? How have you seen faith misrepresented? The past few days I've been reflecting and realizing that in so many subtle ways this false understanding has not just been taught...but it has been preached! This is all stuff Tommy has been talking about at church. It has been good for me to hear.