Secondhand Faith
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for
and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
• Secondhand clothes. . .
• Secondhand furniture. . .
• Secondhand car. . .
Secondhand gym
equipment, not a problem. But secondhand faith—
Unh-unh!
I
call it secondhand faith when we put too much faith in the person that is doing
the praying, and not in our own faith in God. This might be a good starting
point for a new Christian to lean on another person’s faith, but we can’t stay
there. We shouldn’t want to stay there. (See Week 84: Dangerously Low) Each
person has to build their own personal, warm, loving, and trusting relationship
with God. The more intimate the relationship—the stronger the faith.
Do
I want you to believe with me or for me?
I
remember my grandmother praying some powerful prayers. My mother said that
she couldn’t think of a prayer that God didn’t answer for my grandmother.
Whenever I needed Him to move in my life, I went straight to her knowing that
everything was going to be alright.
Was my faith in God or in my
grandmother’s faith in God?
Looking
back I have to admit, my faith was in my grandmother’s faith in God—secondhand
faith. A lot of good that would do me now—she’s dead!
We
can’t depend on someone else to do our believing for us. We must strive for
firsthand faith. It’s our most powerful weapon against the kingdom of darkness,
and it offers us the beautiful gift of hope.
© 2016 See you next week on Paulette Talks
Faith
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