Faith is more than claiming to be an adherent to a certain set of beliefs. It is more than a stated or written creed. Our faith may certainly be claimed, written and stated but that alone is not enough. Faith may be expressed in words and heard. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”. Speaking and hearing the Word of God increases our faith. Why does faith need to be increased? It needs to be increased to move us from a faith that is only verbal to a faith that is seen. If our faith never moves into a faith that others can see, it will remain empty words.
Faith requires action. Action that can be seen and experienced by others. In Matthew 9:1-2, “Jesus saw their faith”. These men who brought this man to Jesus to be healed did something that was an expression of faith. It was an expression beyond words or statements. It was a belief that moved them to action. It was an action that backed up what they believed. It was not a verbal declaration that made their faith obvious but a physical action. James 2:17 tells us “that faith without works is dead.” Dead, inactive, immobile, infertile, unfruitful, barren, and lifeless. Dead! Dead! Dead! Let’s not beat a dead horse. It’s just dead.
Faith comes to life as it is acted upon. I must do what I say I believe. I must live by what I believe.Did you catch that? My beliefs must show up in the way I live. Others must be able to see my faith in action. My actions are the evidence of my faith.There is many things we Christians claim to believe. We believe that Jesus is coming back soon, but do we live like it? We believe in tithing but do we give? We believe that serving others is important, but do we do it? We believe in the Holy Spirit, but do we pray to be filled by Him? We believe that God can heal, but do we ask Him to heal us? We believe that we should be Christ-like, but are we?
So, where is the real proof of what we believe? It’s found in what we practice. If we don’t believe in something enough to practice it, then we don’t believe it. Let’s put our beliefs into practice so that our faith may be evidenced by all men. It’s not our words that will change lives but our godly behavior that is driven by what we believe. People don’t buy into our words, they buy into our lives. It’s what they see.
