Belief and Faith
Belief and Faith for me have something in common. Both are tied to the Holy Spirit.
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. - 1 Corinthians 12:1-7
In today's reading from Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, we hear talk of spiritual gifts and the Holy Spirit.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, I can say with faith that Jesus is Lord. In other words, it is the Holy Spirit working in me that opens me up to a relationship with God through the Son. It is the Trinity working in me that moves me through my faith.
It is not belief that makes my faith stronger, but faith that makes my belief stronger.
And that faith comes from the Spirit working within me.
I believe that one of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us is our faith. We have hope, but it is through faith that we believe. The Spirit responds to our hope by activating our faith, allowing us to look forward with anticipation rather than fear.
But the amazing thing is that the Holy Spirit does not come to us for our own benefit alone. It comes so we may be given gifts to use for the common good.
It is alive in us as a mechanism of that faith to bring all to the kingdom of God here on earth.
When we activate our faith to work together, we strengthen our belief in the one true God who loves all of us unconditionally, and we discover we too can be like that.
So, the message is to live into the Spirit and we will live in faith. Be an instrument of God's grace, rather than an obstacle to it.
And through the Spirit, we will know what it means to say that Jesus is Lord.
More to come...