A Faith Worth Following

Colossians 1:4

Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,

Paul said about the faith of the believers who attended the church at Colosse that since he heard of their faith and love for the saints, it caused him to give thanks to God for them, and to pray for them.

Your faith ought to be a faith worth following. Your life's testimony ought to be a life of faith that would cause others to want to follow. Sadly, the faith of many believers doesn't do anything for the lost or saved. It actually causes people not to desire to follow it.

One of my hobbies is reading biographies or autobiographies of people whom God has used mightily in the past. As I read about their lives, my heart is stirred to follow their faith. When I read the book of Acts, I am provoked to want God to do in my life what He did in the lives of those in the early church. There is something about the faith of those whom God has used mightily that provokes those who have a heart for God to want to emulate so they can see God use them in the same way. There are three things your faith ought to do to others.

First, your faith ought to convict others. People should see your life and be convicted that they are not doing the same things that you are doing for God. People should see how God is using you, and it should prick their heart that their faith is shallow and dying. Nobody is convicted by a life with a faith that never does anything, but people are convicted by the lives of those whose faith caused them to do great works for God. You will never have a faith that convicts others if you are not serving God. You have to serve God before He can use you mightily, and if you are not attempting something great as you serve God, your faith will not convict anyone.

Second, your faith ought to challenge others. Your faith should move others to action because of what God is doing through your life. A dead or anemic faith will not challenge anyone to do something great for God. There is something about the faith of David and Gideon that causes everyone who reads about what God did through them to want to see God do something in their own lives. Your faith ought to challenge others to serve God, and it ought to challenge them to attempt great acts of faith for God.

Third, your faith ought to give others a greater vision of faith. People ought to see your life, and it should provoke them to increase their vision of what they want to do for God. Nobody looks at a life that is doing nothing and says, “I want to do what they have done with their life.” People look at those who have accomplished something great for God and are stirred to increase their vision to do something great for God.

Is your faith a faith that others would want to follow? Does your faith convict others of their lack of service to God? Does your faith challenge others to attempt great acts for God? Does your faith increase the vision of others because of what God has done through your life? If you don't attempt the miraculous, God won't do the miraculous through your life. Others will only want to follow the faith of someone whom God has done the miraculous through. Let me challenge you to do something so great for God that makes your faith worth following.