Living By Faith

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we live by faith, not by sight.

In a world that no longer recognizes absolute truth as the guiding light for morals or law or relationships, society is left with living by our own feelings and the frightening realization that each person comes up with their own truth. The standards which guide Christians may be rejected by many people who don't want God to tell them what to do but when you can decide your own truth and reject your accountability to Him, it leads to nations committing mass murder and violence like the holocaust.

This is a materialist view of reality where the spiritual or supernatural are dismissed and only what can be seen or handled or tested in a science lab is accepted. When philosophers declared that God is dead over 200 years ago, they were not reacting to scientific proof but were proclaiming their independence from Him and His authority.

As followers of Jesus we continue to use reason and examine evidence, but we go one step beyond and believe in what cannot be proven, we live by faith. The book of Hebrews says that faith is "confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." When you see a painting, but you have never met the painter, you still have confidence that there was an artist. It hardly takes deep brain power to make that conclusion. When we look at creation, we see that there was a Creator and as we observe nature continuing to function, we can reason that the Creator is still in charge.

So if we choose to listen to His voice and follow Him, we live by faith. We pray by faith, act patiently with others by faith, work hard to support our families by faith, read the Bible by faith, and join in worship with others by faith.

All of life becomes a series of decisions based on faith that God is still who He says He is and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. As one writer said, living by faith is like the sunrise. We don't have to understand all the science, but through it we see everything else. Don't let your feelings control you today. Believe what the Bible tells you and listen to the Holy Spirit when He tells you "love your neighbor as yourself" even when they are not kind to you. Science may not be able to explain that statement, but by faith you can obey what the Bible tells you and expect God to work in you and through you today.