#4894 – Strengthened in Faith

Good morning people who allow the Holy Spirit to do a good work through difficult times.

Colossians 2:6-7 NIV So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Part of our maturity process as believers and followers of Jesus Christ is being strengthened in the faith.

How does this happen?

Like with the development of natural muscles in our bodies, faith is strengthened by use. If we never exercise our faith, we will never strengthen our faith.

For many first-time parents, there can be a lot of apprehension about bringing a little baby into the home. One of the things that is so often done is baby-proofing the house. In simple terms, this involves removing anything that might possibly cause harm to the child. To be clear, I am not saying this is a bad thing, but the Holy Spirit wants to use this picture to illustrate a point today.

Many Christians try to faith-proof their lives. Rather than a focus on strengthening our faith by walking through the challenges of life with the Holy Spirit leading and empowering us, our greater focus is on removing anything that might actually require steps of faith.

We do this to “protect ourselves’, but in reality, we are simply stunting our spiritual growth. And the irony is, many times we are asking God to make us stronger in Him, while doing our best to escape any opportunity to exercise our muscle of faith.

I want to encourage you today with this truth: The God who is in you is immeasurably greater than the challenge you are walking through.

May your faith be strengthened today in Christ, and may you have a fresh resolve to take another step of faith, and then another, and then another.