“Everything is possible for him who believes,” Jesus said (Mark 9:23, NIV). Think about how powerful this verse is. It opens up a world of possibilities to those who believe. Literally, nothing is impossible to those who believe.
Those words of Jesus have transformed my life. I am the oldest of eight children. My dad left us when I was in elementary school. My mom took care of us by working in housekeeping at a hotel and doing housework for others. But once I became a man of faith, I knew that my past does not have to define my future. It does not matter what side of the track I was born on. I am ultimately limited in this life only by my faith in God. So I believed and so I lived.
During biblical times, some people who met Jesus did not receive from Him what they had asked for because they failed to believe. Clearly, it behooves us to commit ourselves to growing in our faith in God.
On the other hand, we must be careful to not take one thing or one truth too far. Yes, it’s true that “everything is possible for him who believes,” as Jesus says, but….
What’s the rest of the story? If you take the aforementioned words of Jesus without regard for other related truths in the Bible, you may be led to believe that this one verse is all you need to embrace to receive whatever it is that you need from God.
Apostle Paul Writes to Address Faith without Love
In the eyes of God, faith is a powerful thing only when it’s accompanied by love. Accordingly, Paul the apostle writes, “If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2b, NIV). Wow! This is a stunning statement about faith without love.
Contrary to what many think, this verse does not say that a person cannot have faith without love. In fact, it presents the scenario of being able to move mountains through faith without love. But more importantly, this verse reveals that if you have such strong faith in God so that you can accomplish awesome things through Christ, it means nothing to God if you fail to walk in love!
An important take away here is that God is far more interested in how we do what we do for Him than He is in what we do for Him. His requirement for us to walk in love trumps His requirement for us to live by faith.
Jesus Christ is our perfect example. He modeled the life we should live. He always trusted the Father. Everything He did during His public ministry was done through faith in the Father. But equally important, Christ’s faith in God was always accompanied by love for others. Several times in the Bible, it is stated that Jesus was moved with compassion.
So, Jesus taught us that we should have faith in God. Christianity is characterized by a lifestyle based on faith in God. It pleases Him when we come to Him in childlike faith. He wants to answer our prayers and grant us our every petition. But more important than all of this, He wants us to emulate the love of Christ. The kind of faith that pleases God is faith seasoned with love.
Copyright © 2022 by Frank King. All rights reserved.