He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Sometimes the simplest of concepts are difficult to grasp.
Take for example, Jesus’ statement above. He associates faith with the smallest known seed of his time. He didn’t associate faith with the seed fully grown into a mustard plant; nor did He compare faith with the seed when watered and roots are developed or leaves bloom. Instead He focused on the seed itself.
Most often, those of us in the Western world emphasize faith as a mental exercise of what we know. We hear the phrase, “grow one’s faith” and think if we spent more time reading the Word or listening to tape sermons our faith will grow. Yet, when our prayers are not answered (we think), or God is not blessing us (our opinion), we fall into the trap of thinking our faith isn’t large enough to generate the results we desire in life.
To grow one’s faith isn’t necessary a mental exercise of enlarging our “faith muscle”. Instead to grow one’s faith is more of taking what little we already know and acting on it.
The Hebrew word most often translated faith is “Emunah” (Strong’s #530). It is an action-oriented word meaning “support”. Unlike Western thinking which places the emphasis on having faith in God, the Hebrew word places the action on the one who “supports God.” It is not knowing that God will act or can act, but rather I will do what I can to support God.
So, if you want to grow your faith, it takes more than just reading the Bible and listening to Christian music and sermon messages. It’s about taking what you already know and living it out in your daily life.
The early Church didn’t have the tools (smart phones with Bible plans, YouTube with video sermon topics, Google and blogs of Biblical knowledge) at their disposal as we have today. Instead, they took the gospel message and found ways to express God’s Way through their everyday work, speech, and relationships.
To grow one’s faith is about becoming more like Jesus in everyday life. It’s asking God how can we support His Kingdom work right now from where we are currently residing. It’s about walking and communicating with your heavenly Father on a continuous basis.
When you act upon His vision and purpose of life in your tiny corner of the world, you will find yourself growing in faith. The fruit of your actions will exhibit the depth of your faith.
Head knowledge is valuable, but not enough. Heart knowledge is more meaningful, but still not enough. Yet when both are combined with action, supporting God’s vision and purpose for life, faith comes alive and grows.
Rooting For You in Christ!
Dr. Mike
Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:
* Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married
Encourage a Friend…Share Today’s Message!
Radical In Christ 