Putting Faith Into Practice

Faith is essentially trust, which is a pivotal part of following Jesus.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God..." And Ephesians 2:8 explains, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

So we shouldn’t put too much faith in our own faith, but put our faith in God. Only He can create, save, and sustain. We can't know all things, but we can know Him—who knows all things. Which is why we would be wise to put our trust in Him.

But putting our faith into practice isn’t always easy. The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith begins with having confidence in the things we hope for. More than that, it is having assurance for things we cannot see.

While this sounds like a contradiction, faith actually requires us to believe in something outside of ourselves. If we could see it and measure it, it wouldn’t require faith. For instance, we read in Scripture that God created the earth and everything in it. But we weren’t there when it happened. It requires faith to believe that.

Jesus says that those who believe in Him will inherit eternal life—but that’s a promise that has yet to come. We have to have faith that Jesus will keep His promise, and that one day we will be in heaven with Him.

Faith is the assurance that what God promised will happen. It is the confidence that what Jesus said is actually true. This is why people in Scripture faithfully waited for God to fulfill His promises toward them. Most of them might not have seen that fulfillment in their lifetime, but they had faith that God would still follow through.

Take some time to consider your own faith. Is your faith filled with confident hope? Pray for God to give you the assurance that all of His promises will come true. And as you do that, learn from the stories mentioned in Hebrews 11 on what it means to put faith into practice.