Making Faith Godly

Making a challenge when teaching Sunday school has its consequences. This post is one due to the fact that I have to live up to the challenge I delivered to the men in my class to write about their faith this week. Diaries, journals, wives' diaries, letter, mother's diaries, blogs, or whatever it took were part of my request.

 

So here I am, writing about my faith. It is more rambling than I would like due to being written during a hectic day yesterday and a very tired day today.

 

Faith is the first critical step towards finding salvation through Christ. Yet there are different kinds of faith, from the material to the spiritual. Only the most paranoid have no faith, though I suppose they do have faith in the idea that the world is out to get them. Simply having a belief in something unseen (ref. Hebrews 11:1) is not religious in itself, as was pointed out by the class during a lesson I taught in Elders Quorum this past Sunday.

No, there is more to it than that. So I find myself contemplating my faith in God and whether or not it is a Godly faith.

 

An excerpt from they dictionary in the LDS printed KJV Holy Bible states:

Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and is more than belief, since true faith always moves its possessor to some kind of physical and mental action; it carries an assurance of the fulfillment of the things hoped for.

Action is the part that sets a Godly faith apart from a more mundane faith of things such as the sun will rise tomorrow, our political leaders will save us from ourselves, the Chicago Cubs have to win someday, etc. It continues:

Faith is a principle of action and of power, and by it one can command the elements and/or heal the sick, or influence and number of circumstances when occasion warrants (Jacob 4:4-7). Even more important, by faith one obtains a remission of sins and eventually can stand in the presence of God.

It is by faith that miracles and many blessings happen, whether small or great. So it behooves us to stop and check how much faith in God we really have. Since becoming a believer, I have made sure to stop and evaluate where I am from time to time. That helps me find out if I have been spinning my wheels or making progress. With the disclaimer that faith and spiritual maturity are different for every individual, I am going to write about how I evaluate where I stand.

My main priority is seeing if my behavior matches up with what I profess to believe. In other words, making sure my faith is consistent with my actions. Thoughts and deeds should be one is what I believe, so it is no surprise this is my benchmark. Also not surprising is that James is my favorite book of The New Testament.

From James, Chapter 2:14-26:

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

 

Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

 

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

 

Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

 

Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

 

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

It is completely possible to do good deeds with no faith and, in fact, many have done so for appearances sake to gain power or approval. Yet it is making faith and acts one that creates a truly Godly faith, in my opinion.

My personal quest is to have my heart changed enough by my faith in Christ that I will no longer hesitate or think of myself first when rendering service, charity, or obedience to the commandments. It has been a relatively short journey for me, dating back to becoming a deist around the start of the century. Many leagues of the soul remain to be traveled and I have faith that each step brings me a little closer to returning home to Heavenly Father.

 

I want to get to the point where I do not desire blessings or even rewards in the world to come. So I do my best to act in faith and see the results. So far, those actions have only served to grow my faith despite being a doubting Thomas at times. My faith grows my actions and my actions grow my faith. They are inseparable in my eyes. So when I reflect on where I am, I go over what my attitude has been when helping others and whether I am helping others enough.

 

Due to being very self critical, I have learned only recently to listen to others’ opinions on my character and deeds. To be more clear, it is my problem of being unable to take a compliment or praise without flinching that is the issue. I try my best to do good and be a good man, but it can be very hard to judge one’s self.

 

So where do I stand right now?

 

I have faith in Jesus being the Christ and the Son of our Father in Heaven being real and involved with humanity. I have faith that there is an afterlife, what is often called heaven and hell. I have faith we will be judged on our individual actions and righteousness no matter what our race, creed, location, or religion are. I have faith that God is merciful and just.

 

Now if I could only have more faith that good things could happen for me in mortality…

 

Yeah, I have work to do on my faith. We all do and in different ways. The chief thing is to keep walking the straight and narrow path, putting one foot ahead of another. As long as I am not standing still spiritually or falling behind, I have to give myself a passing grade and like God, I do not grade on a curve.

 

I will keep walking.