Stepping Stones of Faith

 

Recently, we had our sidewalk and driveway replaced.  They dug out the old driveway, rescaled it all, and then added layers of gravel and paving to make it look great!  It was an interesting process of layer upon layer until the final result was just what we expected.  Susan, why are we talking about your driveway?  Stay with me!

During devotion this morning, I came across these verses and it pressed upon my heart to share it.  It always amazes me how the Lord shares with us nuggets that we have never seen before.  I absolutely love these verses – so get ready – I believe there will be a blog series in the future.  Today, let’s look at these great stepping stones to add to our faith!

Just as the driveway had to be developed layer by layer until we saw the true beauty, so does our faith.  These beautiful aspects to add to our faith show the world God’s love is something we can be reminded of! 

Goodness – The ability to be good and virtuous.  We are sinners, and ‘being good’ does not happen every minute of every day.  If we make a conscious decision to share goodness with others, that goodness can spread.

Knowledge – Acquiring facts and information.  As Christians, our knowledge comes from the Word of God, the words of the Bible.  There, our facts and information are real and are what we can stand on.

Self-Control – Regulate our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.  This one will get us every time!  It is important to have self-control over things such as the words we use so we don’t hurt others, the thoughts we have so sinful thoughts do not cross our minds and regulating our behaviors on things that are not good for us (gluttony, financial debt, etc).

Perseverance – Moving forward despite difficulty.  To continue the journey regardless of how tough it gets can be exhausting.  If the journey takes us to a closer relationship with Jesus, it is worth the difficult times!

Godliness – Conforming to the laws and wishes of God.  We need to know those laws in order to work hard to try to conform to them.  We will fail, yet striving to be the people God wants us to be will help us to serve God.

Mutual Affection – Shared feeling of like between individuals or groups.  My friends, how we need mutual affection in our world today!  My mom used to say that although we may disagree with others, we can always find one thing to like about the other.  We need to do better – we need to find that common denominator to get to like!

Love – An intense feeling of deep affection.  This is what we strive for.  Building upon all the other ‘steps’ to achieve the love we can share to others – to show God’s love to others.  If we can show all the love that Jesus has for us, all will win!

During this next week, take some time to add one of the stepping stones to your faith character!  Let us show the world Jesus’ love!

To view the companion video:  Stepping Stones of Faith

Dearest Jesus, thank you for these stepping stones of faith.  May they live deep within all of us.  Amen!