In Colossians 2:7 I read, “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." (NLT)
God doesn’t want me to have just any faith. He wants me to have a strong and vigorous faith; not a wimpy faith that collapses when things get tough.
The Bible says in Colossians 2:7, “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness” (NLT).
How does God grow a strong faith?
The first way God grows my faith is through his Word. He wants me to know the Bible—to read the Bible, listen to the Bible, study the Bible, memorize the Bible, and talk about the Bible. Why? Because God’s Word says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 NKJV).
If my faith is weak, I’m likely not in the Bible very often. But the more I’m in God’s book, the more it will feed my soul. God’s Word is soul food, and spending time in it is the easiest way to grow my faith.
The second way God grows my faith is the hard way, and that’s through circumstances that test me. While I may read the Bible only a little bit each day, I have things happening all around me 24 hours a day. My circumstances are what God most often uses to grow my faith and build my character.
Faith is like a muscle. I don’t grow muscle without some sort of resistance. The only way I grow a muscle is by stretching it, testing it, and putting weight on it. The same is true with faith. I don’t grow faith just by sitting around and saying, “Oh, I want more faith.” Faith needs to be tested. So God allows circumstances in my life to build my faith muscle.
Because God cares so much about my faith, I can know that he will always answer this prayer: “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5 NIV). Make that my prayer as God grows my faith through his Word and through circumstances that test me.
In summary, I need to let my roots grow down into him, and let my life be built on him. Then my faith will grow strong in the truth, and I will overflow with thankfulness. God wants me to have a strong and vigorous faith; not a wimpy faith that collapses when things get tough. So how does God grow a strong faith in me? The first way is through his Word. He wants me to know the Bible; to read, listen, study, memorize, and talk about the Bible. God’s Word says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. If my faith is weak, I’m likely not in the Bible very often. But the more I’m in God’s book, the more it will feed my soul. God’s Word is soul food, and spending time in it is the easiest way to grow my faith. The second way is the hard way, and that’s through circumstances that test me. I have things happening all around me 24 hours a day. My circumstances are what God most often uses to grow my faith and build my character. Faith is like a muscle. I don’t grow muscle without some sort of resistance. I grow a muscle by stretching it, testing it, and putting weight on it. The same is true with faith. Faith needs to be tested. So God allows circumstances in my life to build my faith muscle. I know that he will always answer this prayer: “Increase my faith”. Make that my prayer as God grows my faith through his Word and through circumstances that test me.
Receiving Christ as Lord of my life was the beginning of life with Christ. But I must continue to follow his leadership by being rooted, built up, and strengthened in the faith. Christ wants to guide me and help me with my daily problems. I can live for Christ by (1) committing my life and submitting my will to him. (2) Seeking to learn from him, his life, and his teachings. (3) Recognizing the Holy Spirit's power in me. Just as plants draw nourishment from the soil through their roots, so we draw our life giving strength from Christ. The more I draw my strength from him, the less I will be fooled by those who falsely claim to have life's answers. If Chris is my strength, I will be free from human regulations.
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