What Is Faith? Part 3

What Is Faith? Part 3

Faith is something that you and I live out every day of our lives. For the Christian, faith is every hour of every day. There’s no time off and there’s no place to get away from it. We are people of faith and it is how we identify ourselves. It’s who we are.

Our country’s constitution gives us freedom of religion and it’s interesting that when we talk about such things, we use phrases like this: “You are free to ‘practice’ the religion of your choice” or “Are you a practicing Christian?”

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States words it this way: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Notice the use of the words “practice” and “exercise”. Those words are used for a reason. They indicate effort and intention.

You and I are accustomed to thinking of practice and exercise as academic or physical disciplines. They suggest training for a contest or an event. Debaters practice and study. So do gamers and contestants.

Athletes exercise when they prepare for a game. It makes them stronger, faster and builds endurance. They practice every day to become proficient and to develop their skills. They spend time refining their techniques, learning strategies and studying their opponents.

Practice and exercise make them better at what they do. They are invested in their work and they desire to become better and better every day.

I have a question for you. Does that describe your faith?

Ouch.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

“…Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable … I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

Tomorrow: how do we do that? How does one “exercise” their faith?