What is faith?
What is faith?
By: Pastor Diane Ryder, Rev.
Description: Tehachapi Community Congregational Church
Topics: faith, easter
Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 366 times
0 responses 0 comments I suspect that every teenage girl has asked her mother the same question I asked my mother when I was a teenager, “Mom, how will I know when I am in love?” My wise mother answered, “You will know not only by how you feel, but by how you act when you find your beloved life partner. Love makes you into a new person, not only in word but also in deed.”
As Christianity’s holiest holiday, Easter, approaches, I think my mother's words also apply to the life of faith. We have all heard the phrase “Christmas and Easter Christians” applied to people who attend worship only twice per year. I wonder how they are acting the other 50 weeks of the year – not what they believe, but how they act when they are not overtly professing their faith. Their actions during the weeks they are not at worship are the true measure of their Christianity.
Likewise, it might be asked of Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed, “How do we know we are loved by God?” The answer, for Christians, is by Jesus' actions on the cross. Of course, Jesus' words and teachings are very important, but it is His ultimate act of love on the cross that convinced us humans of his love for us. In other words, Jesus showed His extravagant love for us by the way he behaved under duress. Do we, in turn, show our love for God by our own behavior during duress? Or do we only “talk the talk” and not “walk the walk?” ... a question to ponder this Easter season.
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