I friend of mine reminded me of this concept this morning. Faith is Choice motif. I have often commented on the Faith as Action or Faith as Verb concept. Too often people regulate faith to that of a passive word. Similar to that of belief. In fact, I think people use them interchangeably. I believe in God or I have faith in God, would be identical statements in most people’s mind. However deeper inspection of the idea leads you to the conclusion that belief and faith are not really the same thing.
To believe is to know as faith is to hope, I would proffer. Great teachers of the past have commenting on this many times, including Jesus himself who is attributed to saying something to the effect that even the devils know that there is a God. Many people, falsely I would add, that if an Angel came down from Heaven and gave them proof beyond any doubt that God did in fact exist that they would then change their behavior. That is proven to be false, when compared against any human norm. Just because someone is handed something without the effort to keep it, does not mean they will keep it. Usually it is the exact opposite. I have seen many people, with tearful and heart wrenching performances claim an unquavering belief in God, and in a few short years be the ones that most vehemently deny the existence of any deity, much less, God.
So clearly, in my mind at least, belief and/or knowledge of a thing is not enough. You actually have to choose to believe, and that is the core root of faith. You first develop a hope that something is true, and then you choose to accept it. That choice is where faith comes in. That is the concept that actually has power. Faith is therefore action, a power within oneself where they make a conscious choice to make something true – or at least to exercise faith in the idea.
Putting religious faith aside, we all have this choice before us. Do we believe or do we have faith in something we prescribe to. A doctor gives you a course of treatment and you follow it having hope, and then a conscious decision to apply the advice. That is faith. You choose to select a job, having faith that it will provide for you and your family. That is faith. You put faith in people, your spouse for example all the time. I married my wife with the hope, and then the faith that she would be a lifelong companion and a awesome mother to my future children. There is a fine line between the destined future and the faith you put toward a thing that will make it, or at least will it to happen. You may argue that your faith in something alone is not good enough to make something happen, but you absolutely cannot disagree with the concept that something will never happen if you do not put faith into it.
So we have a choice, and that choice is faith. I would venture the more powerful and the more true something is, the more effective your faith will be. However, regardless of what you put your faith in, choosing to put faith into something is the key ingredient, the recipe for success. Without that you are lost.
Guy Reams
