- Without faith, we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6)
- Faith makes us well. (1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 55:11, Matthew 9:22 & 29, Luke 17:19, Acts 3:16, James 5:15)
- Faith makes great works possible. (Mark 11:22-24, Matthew 17:20, Luke 17:6, Hebrews 11, etc.)
- Faith inevitably leads to good works. (Acts 20:21, Romans 3:31, Hebrews 11, James 2, etc.)
- Faith makes our good works effective on the spiritual plane. (Hebrews 11, James 2, etc.)
- Faith is essential to our eternal salvation. (Romans 3:28, Ephesians 2:8, Hebrews 11, etc.)
The keys to maintaining your faith in God
- You must allow your faith to take root
Faith will NOT take root where there is Word deficit. To avoid loss of faith, you shall require decisive constant daily work to study your Bible.
Just as in the parable of the sower and the seed of the Gospel, the seed of faith also needs deep, healthy soil to prosper. It needs to be embedded in an environment which encourages long-term, meaningful maturity. The environment in which our faith sprout–or doesn’t sprout–includes the people, places, things, and habits with which we surround ourselves with.
- You must keep good company of friends who embrace and walk by faith.
We have all heard that you become like those with whom you spend the most time, and I believe it’s true. Maintaining and building faith requires keeping company with people of faith
Let us look at the parable of the sower as spoken by Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 13:1-9
The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
The three groups of people reflected from the parable of the sower
- The Pessimists. These people are like the weeds in the parable. Their constant negativity chokes the hope and life out of you until you can’t believe anything good could happen for you.
Danger
You can’t keep pessimists as close friends. They will drag you down when you try to keep company with their misery.
- The proud and self-sufficient. These people are like the rocks. On the surface, they might be very positive, but their hearts are hard. Why should they trust in God when they believe they already have all that they need?
Danger
If you spend too much time with them, the seed of faith will have no opportunity to put down roots, and it will wither and die.
- Fruit producers. Train to surround yourself with people who trust God. Be a friend to people who are where you want to be in life.
Our home, work, and religious environments need to be conducive to developing believers’ faith.
Finally, ask yourself the following questions
- What kind of artwork hangs on your walls at your home?
- What is the usual conversation like at home, in the break room or at work and how do you participate? Does it honor God?
- Do your personal and spiritual habits focus on God’s faithfulness or on God’s wrath?
- Do you spend most time praising God or complaining about what has NOT happened?
If there are areas based on these questions that discourage your faith, consider how you can replace them with positive deeds.
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