Why Should I Work on My Faith?

The Christian faith provides the greatest opportunity on earth for personal growth. Nowhere else can a person find the knowledge and tools to improve every aspect of life, as one finds in a congregation that is guided by the standard of the Bible. That is why it seems so bizarre that there are believers who consider it a waste of time to study or work on faith development. As far as some are concerned, they are saved and going to heaven and that is all that matters. On the other hand, there are visionaries who long for a deeper relationship with the Father and are serious about doing everything they can to strengthen their faith.

The fact that you are reading this book means you are most likely in the latter category. Whatever your reason is for choosing a book on this particular subject, the journey before you is going to take a lot of motivation. Military recruits who go through basic training are put through a battery of mental and physical tests. Not every soldier makes it. Some get washed out of the program. The ones who find a way to stay motivated are the ones who graduate and continue to their Advanced Individual Training. In the same way it takes motivation to steadily grow up in your faith, to blossom into the man or woman God is calling you to be.

I want to either give you a fresh motivation for growing in your trust in God or nurture the reason you already have. Before any consideration of what faith is or what makes it grow, let's consider the question of why one would want to grow stronger in their faith. There are many reasons for working on our faith. Here are eight good ones.

REASON #1
I should want to grow in my faith because God wants me to grow.

Is there a way to know how God feels about our spiritual development? God shows you how He feels about personal growth for His children when you study Matthew 17. As this chapter opens, Jesus is up on the Mount of Transfiguration talking things over with Moses and Elijah.

²And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. ³And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

- Matthew 17:2-3

Although their conversation was a private one, it is stimulating to imagine what they may have been discussing. Two things are fascinating about this scene. One is that these are three spiritual giants, the most faith-filled men the world has ever known. Just to be in their presence would have been awe-inspiring. The second thing that is fascinating about this scene is that during the time it takes place, two of these three men have long been dead.

Only three of the apostles were invited to witness this meeting, Peter, James and John. Where were the other nine? They were back in the city having an adventure of their own.

¹⁴When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, ¹⁵“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”

- Matthew 17:14-16

A member of the community had brought to the remaining nine Jesus-less apostles a boy who was demon possessed and having seizures. In Jesus' absence the apostles decided to press forward and heal the boy themselves. It was a disaster. Their attempts to heal him failed which upset the boy's father, not to mention frustrating and discouraging the apostles themselves. That was when Jesus returned from His journey.

"You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?" Matthew 17:17. Jesus was clearly upset with what had transpired. Whether these stern words were directed toward His apostles, toward the assembly or toward that entire "generation" the result was the same: Jesus was perturbed at people's faithlessness. "You unbelieving ..." We know He was disappointed because after He rectified the situation and the crowds dispersed, the disciples approached Jesus hat-in-hand wanting to know what went wrong. "Why could we not cast it out?" Matthew 17:19, referring to casting out the demon.

He replied, "Because of your meager faith," (Matthew 17:20). The Greek word used here means tiny or puny faith, faith that is incredulous. They failed because of a lack of confidence in God. The apostles were seeking an explanation and Jesus told them exactly what the problem was; small faith.

If your faith is miniscule, you are ill equipped to serve in God's kingdom because faith is the basis for it all. Christianity is undeniably faith based. Jesus continues, "I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move." In quoting this passage from the New American Standard Bible, the word "size" may not capture the true meaning Jesus intended. The original word used by the Holy Spirit doesn't refer to size. It is a word meaning "as, like or in comparison to."

Jesus is drawing a comparison between faith and a mustard seed. The translators have emphasized the characteristic of size, which is understandable, but doing so disrupts the course of Jesus' point. He just rebuked them for having small faith. To turn around and tell them that with small faith they could move mountains clashes with the flow of His instruction. It goes against His opening statement. No, the mustard seed comparison Jesus is making is not one of size but rather of growth. Faith needs to progress like a seed grows.

We learn from Matthew 13:31-32 that although mustard seeds start off small, they grow large enough to be considered as trees.

³¹He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; ³²and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

- Matthew 13:31-32

This parable in chapter 13 helps us understand what Jesus was trying to say in chapter 17. The emphasis Jesus is making with His mustard seed illustration in Matthew 17 is not on being small in faith, but that small faith should not stay small. It does not matter how small our faith is when it starts out. But it does matter if our faith remains small. Growing faith is what moves mountains. Growing faith is what God desires for His children.

What father does not look for growth in his children? Any parent who notices their child is not growing at a normal rate is certainly going to be concerned. They would not think, "Oh well, at least they are not shrinking." We expect growth in a child and have cause for alarm when we don't see it. In the same way, God looks for growth in His children and is concerned when we are spiritually stunted. So, if I love God and God wants me to grow, I should want me to grow also. That alone is motivation enough to work on our faith. We could stop here knowing we have a good reason to grow in our faith. God wants me to grow. But let's look at the other seven motivations anyway.

A second good reason for working on our faith is when it comes to faith there are only two choices.

REASON #2
We are either moving forward or we are moving backward.

If I am not moving forward in my faith development I am moving backward, whether I realize it or not. We would like to think we are just "holding steady", but in principle this never happens. If one is holding a steady level of faith, this is actually negative progress. The reason being, from the day we are baptized we should be growing up in the Lord. The letter of Hebrews teaches us this.

¹¹Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹²For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ¹³For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

- Hebrews 5:11-14

The statement "though by this time you ought to be teachers," infers that there should be a steady progress of spiritual maturity among God's children. Each child of God should be progressing toward being a teacher of the Word. If that progress is not taking place in our lives, then we are in fact digressing.

Christians should be continually training themselves to get off the milk and on to solid food. Imagine a kid in junior high or high school walking around sucking on a baby bottle and wearing diapers. If a child stopped growing emotionally, any parent would be concerned. If a child stopped growing physically, you would not think, "Well, at least he is not shrinking!" would you? No, that's crazy. You would be alarmed that the natural process of growth had been disrupted, especially if it was your own child.

That is how God feels when He sees a child of His that has stopped growing spiritually. Are you a child of God? What would you expect God's reaction to be if you go year after year never maturing in your faith? If you are not moving forward in trusting God and believing His Word, you are moving backward.

REASON #3
Life is boring without growth.

You might be a little skeptical about this point but think of it this way. Haven't the most interesting times in your life been the times when you were growing physically, emotionally and spiritually? I have met some Christians who thought that Christianity was boring. You may have as well, but have you ever met a growing Christian who thought that Christianity was boring? Probably not. I certainly have not. Growing Christians say Christianity is challenging, maybe. Difficult, possibly. But never boring. Non growth is boring.

"For the word of God is living and active" (Hebrews 4:12). Anyone who is growing in the Word is "living and active," vivacious and drinking deeply of life. Growth is what makes life lively. The very process of overcoming obstacles as we move toward a closer walk with God is what gives life that pizzazz. Growth is exciting. It is fun. It can even be scary at times, but never boring.

REASON #4
It is essential for a growing church.

Without spiritual growth we cannot have numerical growth in our congregations, at least not sustained numerical growth.

It is possible to grow in numbers for a while without growing spiritually, but if you do not have spiritual maturity taking place in your congregation there will not be a strong enough base to sustain all the new Christians.

from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

- Ephesians 4:16

Church leaders, may I have your attention please? If you are planning on baptizing a lot of new converts into Christ, but you have no plan for maturing the faith of both old and new members, you will not be able to sustain the growth. You may have numerical growth but without spiritual growth, eventually the numbers will drop back to where they were. If the body has not developed the necessary supporting joints "what every joint supplies" to account for the additional size, the numbers will shrink to a size that the spiritual strength of the congregation can support. Churches that pay attention to spiritual growth along with numerical growth have a lasting and fruitful increase because there is a motivation for each member to stay attached to the vine (John 15:1-17). If adding souls to the kingdom of God means anything to you then spiritual growth has to be part of the game plan.

This fifth reason for working on our faith has to do with the realization that we are involved in a spiritual battle. Like it or not, there is a spiritual war waging for your eternal destinies. And in this war, you are in God's army or you are in Satan's army. This may be hard for you to accept, especially if you have had tolerance and neutrality preached to you since birth. We resist taking sides under any circumstances, but in this instance, we have no choice. The cold hard fact is that:

REASON #5
If God does not get you, Satan will.

Peter once gave this exhortation:

⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

- I Peter 5:6-7

In simple terms Peter is urging us to enlist in God's army and never be A.W.O.L. (Absent Without Leave). Why? Because... "Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour," I Peter 5:8. Enlist your services to God or be devoured by Satan. We are either in the Lord's army or the devil's army. Jesus challenged His disciples,

He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

- Matthew 12:30

John explained in I John 3:7-10 that we can either be children of God or we can be children of the devil.

⁷Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; ⁸the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. ¹⁰By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

- I John 3:7-10

There are "children of God" and there are "children of the devil". There is no third option. There is no half a child of God and half a child of the devil. You are either one or the other. There is no neutral grounds in this battle. We're all in the war zone. One reason for growing in our faith is so that we can stay out of Satan's camp. When that final battle has been fought and the war is over, you want to be on the winning side.

REASON #6
Without faith we can't even please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

Do you want to please God? Of course you do. This is what we as Christians live for. We long to know that our heavenly Father is proud of the lives we are living, but we cannot please God without faith. The Bible says it is impossible. "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, ..." God loves to see faithfulness. It pleases Him to see men and women aspiring to have a deeper trust in Him. The potential for doing what is pleasing to our Heavenly Father should be motivation enough to want to grow our faith.

The seventh reason for faith development is because we want Jesus' church to grow.

REASON #7
If I want a healthy, vibrant church I have to start with me.

This is what is wrong with so many churches today. Everyone wants to be part of a strong congregation, but we think the way to attain that is for everyone else to get their lives straightened out. It is always somebody else's fault. The best thing you can do for your congregation is work on you.

Do you want your church to be strong? Start with strengthening your own faith:

from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

- Ephesians 4:16

Don't wait for others to improve their spirituality for you to start working on yours. Set the pace. Pledge to God that you are going to do everything in your power to help the church and ask your Heavenly Father to grow His kingdom starting with you.

Here is the eighth and final reason for spiritual maturity:

REASON #8
Faith development fosters healthy and harmonious relationships in the family of God

In the initial writing of this material, there were only seven reasons in this chapter. This eighth reason was the serendipitous result of doing a few seminars.

After following up with some of the congregations where we had implemented Reaching New Levels of Faith, several church leaders told me that they had realized an increase in patience among the members toward one another, which they attributed to this study, though no one seemed to understand why. It wasn't that hard to figure out.

The patience came from finally understanding the struggles that other members were going through. Members started to realize how hard it was for others to grow from one level of faith to another, or what it was like to go through some of the struggles they had learned about. By focusing their attention on the progress of spiritual maturity in others and doing their growing together, these brethren gained more respect, appreciation and love for one another.

As your faith grows you will relate to others who desire the same. This alone can be a motivation for trying to grow in our faith. By working together on our spiritual growth, we will foster harmony in our church family.

Take a moment to look back over these eight reasons for growing in God. You need to have a personal reason for wanting to grow closer to God. It may be through one or more of these motivations or by coming up with your own, but somehow you need to find a godly reason for wanting spiritual maturity in your life. So many Christians never progress spiritually because of a lack of righteous motivation. Any relationship takes time, effort and determination. As you now see, there are plenty of reasons for you to work on strengthening your walk with God. Choose one, write it on something you will see every day like your mirror or screen saver and get motivated!