Words of Wisdom from Charles Spurgeon
This week I came across this quote from Charles Spurgeon:
"Faith is the surest of all sin-killers."
When I read it, I started thinking to myself, why is faith a 'sin-killer?' And I started thinking about what faith is and why we have it. Our faith is in someone, and that someone is perfect, flawless and working all things for His good at all times.
In other words, our faith is in the character of the One we put our faith in. That's what life was like for Adam and Eve in the garden. They were sinless because they never doubted the character of their Heavenly Father. It wasn't until Satan deceived them and convinced them that they were somehow being ripped off by God, that He was withholding things from them, that they then made that tragic decision to eat the fruit they were told not to eat. It was ultimately doubting the character of God that led to this.
When I think about my own life, it is exactly the same. I tend to make unhealthy choices when I struggle to believe that God is who He says He is. When I am living from a place of confidence in His character and goodness, that is when I tend to live more in alignment with His character.
Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." When Adam and Eve stopped trusting in the Lord with all their heart, they started to depend on their own understanding, which was the recipe for disaster.
Friend, you and I can rest in the fact that we have a perfect God who never changes. Even if you can't see your way forward at the moment, trusting in His goodness and character is what will get you through without any messes to clean up afterwards.
If this is something that is resonating with you and you are needing some practical ways to live this out, here are a few ideas:
Spend time meditating on specific passages that talk about God's nature and character.
Write down a list of the ways He has shown Himself in the past to be trustworthy in your life. Keep that list somewhere you can reference quickly and regularly so it remains front of mind.
Ask God to increase your faith and wisdom. James 1 says that if we ask for wisdom, God will give it to us.
Reach out to someone you trust for prayer. If you'd like me to pray for you, feel free to email me here.