The Third Book - The 19th Chapter - Build Your Faith

Build Your Faith

July 18, 2020

When you begin experiencing growth and accomplishments, it’s important to keep the momentum going. Continued growth requires energy to maintain continued accomplishments.

Though sometimes difficult to maintain daily, strength may be gained through visualization. Measuring each of your decisions against the value they will bring to your life takes discipline.  It can be easy to indulge in self-serving decisions seeking instant gratification that may only keep you in the negative patterns of your past. It is much harder to make decisions that are long-lasting if you do not see instant results. It takes self-sacrifice to others and yourself. As you maintain the path of making challenging decisions that maximize your value, it will become easier as well as your exponential growth. When we make decisions that are quick and impulsive in order to achieve an immediate sense of gratification it is always linear in effect and the benefit always fades away. With the long-term decision-making, the growth is unlimited. It is only limited by ones fears and demons that are negative in nature. Faced with thousands of decisions a day, the hard part is to have the discipline and strength always to stay the course and add to your quest. It is a simple concept but can be very difficult to carry out consistently.

Growing strength may also be achieved through faith. Faith can be more challenging to visualize and realize. It requires that ones ego is secondary to achieving the gift of faith that is all around us. Christ is always providing us with what we need when we need it. We just have to recognize it. Through my mentor, I have realized how blessed I have been. I have met many people who have shared stories with me that have given me the gift of faith. It has given me the gift of knowing I am living my life in accordance with serving God.  It is through their stories that I can recognize His love that provides me with a vision that I am on the right track and gives me the strength to keep building my momentum.

In restoring my faith, I have reflected upon recent experiences. Last summer, when I felt lost and I depressed, I was drinking too much.  At the time, I was working at a safe injection site. I had been reflecting upon my place in life. I felt a lot of self-pity. However, I was able to meet many beautiful people, who were also feeling lost, and we were able to form friendships. It is often easy to look down upon people who are facing addictions. However, I was able to relate to each person’s story.  I also recognized that each person has a gift even though they may not recognize it within themselves. What I have learned is that people try to live their best life. I realized I had more in common with them and that our addictions had different levels of control over each of us.

Recently, my daughter and I went on a road trip. As we were entering the highway, a young man was standing with a sign and begging for money. Quickly my daughter gave him 2 $5 bills and we pulled away. My daughter asked me what I thought about her giving money to this young man. I anticipated she thought I might criticize her for wasting her money. I let her know that she had just taught me a lesson to freely give to someone else that is under the table. My daughter gave freely without knowing the intention of how the money would be spent. I also let her know that I know the young man and he's a good person who was just in a terrible place in his life. The $10 my daughter gave may or may not have saved this man's life, but it helped get him closer to changing his life. I thought it was a great example of what Christ would do. He would freely give love out of kindness, compassion and without expectation. Growing momentum and strength through faith allows for exponential growth.

   

Days later, while traveling to a business meeting at a local coffee shop, I saw an older man asking for money. At the time, I was late for my meeting and I didn't want the person to wait any longer. I vowed to myself if the older man were standing there when I left, I would give him money. During my meeting, the other person shared they had lost their husband the previous year.  She shared the focus of missing her husband was more than loving God. With this focus, she realized she wasn’t fully living her life. She knew in time she would once again be with her husband, but in the meantime the center had to be on loving God. Her belief caused her spirit to soften and she was able to provide the strength that someone needed in her life. Without her gift of strength, she likely would have lost the other person. In only one month from when she decided to serve and focus on God, she was able to save a life. The multiplying effect of that action has spilled into many lives and has allowed a child to know his mother longer and allowed a husband to know his wife longer.

Sometimes people ask how long it takes to change. Once you see your truth and feel the love of Christ, it only takes one breath to change your life and countless others around you. The gift given to me was providing me with more faith and the quiet confidence in knowing I am growing my relationship with Christ. I know I am living a life obedient to the Will of God. I have realized God doesn't want anything from us. He truly wants us to live a life full of love and to share that with others.

As I was leaving the coffee shop, the old man was still standing in the middle of the entryway. As I pulled up to the old man, I said hi, asked how he was doing, and gave him $20. After I gave him the money, I could see appreciation in his eyes. He kissed the bill and he put it in his pocket. At first, I thought that his display of emotion was solely about the money. However, I realized he saw the kindness in my eyes towards him. I realized he felt I valued him as a person, as someone who mattered. In that brief moment, he gave me more than I had given him. A lot of people may live a life that is based upon a foundation of lies instead of value. Acceptance and faith go hand in hand. In order to grow our faith, we need to accept ourselves and accept what God wants in our lives. Through acceptance, we can fully begin to live our lives through knowing our truths and begin building our strength in order to achieve exponential momentum.

How secure is your faith? In the last week, how many examples have you experienced that Christ has given you to grow your faith? Have you used the experiences to not only grow your faith but to share it with someone else in a way that exhibits the love of Christ? Whether you have or haven’t, what is your next step? The journey of life may be difficult, but the pattern of hard work replicates with hard work. I have experienced exponential growth and momentum in my faith. My prayer is that you can also feel it happen in your life and are able to share it with others. You can truly make a difference when you least expect it.