VERB action, state, or occurrence.
NOUN people, places, or things.
In the early years AFTER I gave my life to Jesus and BEFORE my complete surrender, my faith was a NOUN because I had not fully RELEASED CONTROL to him. I was playing it safe. Little prayer. Little commitment. Little action. My faith was a NOUN.
Every believer—me, you, everyone—has a grip on some level of CONTROL that we have not fully released to God. Giving up more of the control we have hoarded is the goal. And the timing to do that is perfect as we take our year-end faith inventory and ask God for direction in 2022.
This is the time—RIGHT NOW–to turn our faith into a VERB and take the next step in our faith walk.
And there’s good news right out of this gate. God is looking for us to move toward any point on his spiritual growth path. He wants us to turn our faith from a noun to a verb, even if it’s not a giant leap.
He is NOT saying move from POINT A–my faith frozen in place—to POINT B—sturdy spiritual maturity in one single leap.
I have had my faith be frozen in place many times in my life and it hurts. Falling into this motionless state puts us in a cauldron of despair that boils our soul.
If we put off making our faith a verb and moving closer to God, we’ll quickly slide into chasing after the world. I know because that is exactly what happened to me early in my faith walk.
That demands we keep our faith as a VERB and continually move toward developing spiritual maturity. Instead of claiming to be perfect now, the Apostle Paul pursued becoming more like Christ. Paul’s faith was a VERB that kept him constantly moving forward toward Christlikeness.
I thank God for helping me swap my quest for PERFECTION for a WORK-IN-PROGRESS. For turning my faith into a VERB and keeping me constantly looking for opportunities to grow in Christ (Philippians 3:12).
I ask God to strengthen me to keep my faith walk as a VERB so I am constantly striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Is your faith a VERB or a NOUN? What step do YOU need to take in 2022 to move closer to God?
“I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself.” Philippians 3:12
