“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:13 NIV

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 NIV

Faith, hope and love are the building blocks of our Christian lives. This week I want to address faith. My faith journey began with my grandparents. My immediate family didn’t go to church. But my sister and I spent weeks in the summers on my grandparents’ farm in central Indiana. I loved the cows with their calves, the pony we got to ride, and the garden’s bounty. Every sultry Sunday we attended a small, crowded church. One of my fondest memories was the flurry of pastel-printed cardboard fans on wooden sticks that ladies swished just below their chins. (Anyone else remember these?) But as we sat quietly, we listened. And began to believe.

As teenagers my sister and I began attending a small church with an active youth group in our hometown. I began to see the work that God had done in the lives of others. I saw the amazing changes that His salvation brought to other young people. And I wanted that joy and confidence. I publicly professed my faith at 14 and was baptized. As life happened, college, marriage, children, loss of grandparents and parents, illnesses; my faith grew as I depended more and more on God. My faith became the rock foundation of my life.

We start out with simple child-like faith; we believe in God’s existence. We can’t see God, but we can see the beauty and design of His creation. We believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s Son. As we believe and as we begin to trust in God’s promises and the salvation offered by the sacrifice of Jesus, our faith grows. That building block gets bigger and stronger. As we encounter troubles and struggles and lean more and more on God, our faith building block becomes the rock, the cornerstone, we build our lives on.

 This week let’s look back on our lives, our faith building blocks. Where did your faith begin? What made you doubt? What strengthened it? Who mentored you? How did your faith grow and mature? As we all answer these questions, let’s thank God for all the ways He has worked in our lives and strengthened our faith and given us the confidence to share with others.

Please feel free to share your own “faith building” story in the comment section and encourage others!

I thank God for each of you! And I thank you for joining me this week as we examine our faith.

Blessings and faith in God’s everlasting arms!