On Faith Part 2

I received the following comment on my last post “On Faith” which you can find here:

https://efchristi.com/2014/11/09/on-faith/

I’m having to think about this one, Ed. I’m trying to really sort out the distinctions between belief and faith for myself. I guess that different religions have their own beliefs that ultimately all lead to faith in one supreme being. Would personal beliefs be the components we need as individuals to support our faith? Or is there a difference between beliefs and believing? -Sally

The question brought a lot to the surface – mainly how do you determine faith? After some thought I responded with the following and at Sally’s suggestion am using it as part 2:

Let me try to put it in perspective, sort of an equation:

Belief – An opinion or judgment in which a person is fully persuaded.

Faith = ( Belief + Action + Confidence )

Confidence – Trust that is based on knowledge or past experience

When we believe the truth with enough confidence to take action we exercise faith. And it doesn’t take much of that faith to see huge things happen, even miraculous things.

But our problem is really with unbelief, not a lack of faith.

The good news is that we can change our unbelief into belief. It’s really a fairly simple, straight forward process. We just need to become more fully persuaded of the truth instead of the misconceptions and lies that we are currently holding on to.

The more we expose our minds to the truth, the more we become persuaded and convinced of that truth.

And the best way to expose our minds to the truth is to study the Bible. The more time we spend exploring the truth of the Bible, the more our minds become convinced of that truth.

The more firmly convinced of the truth we become, the more confident we’ll grow.

Then it won’t be long before we find ourselves doing things differently, acting in more faith.

Do you want more faith? Then invest more time reading, studying, and thinking about the Bible. You’ll find your faith will just grow as a result because you will change your beliefs.

That’s pretty simple, don’t you think?

To answer your question, they go hand in hand.

I am always looking for comments on my posts. It allows me to see things in a different perspective from how I grew up. I welcome all responses and where possible I will answer any question.

What we do with love is never lost. Something worth remembering.

Love,

Ed