FAITH WORKS BY LOVE

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.  Galatians 5:6

We are faith people, who believe deeply in the importance and power of faith.  Yet, faith, by itself, is not enough to make us more than conquerors.  We must also have love because the Bible clearly tells us that faith works by love.

Love actually inspires faith.  It gives faith a foundation to build on.  You might even say, love gives us reason to believe.  Think about the love of God, for example.  His love for us is the foundation of our faith in Him.  John 3:16 says He “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” so that by believing in him we wouldn’t perish but have everlasting life.

Imagine it!  God sacrificed His very own Son for us, and what prompted Him to do it was love.  Actually, it’s His great love that prompts Him to do everything He does for us.  It’s His love that provides exceeding great and precious promises that bless us both in this life and in the life to come.  It’s His mighty love that causes His mercy to be new toward us every morning.

You might have noticed that people who don’t grasp God’s love aren’t able to have much faith in His WORD.  They struggle and try to believe, but when push comes to shove, their faith falters and fails.  Why?  Because they don’t have a revelation of love to back it up!

On the other hand, when we truly begin to understand and experience how full of compassion God is toward us, we can easily believe He’ll keep His promises to us.  When we know how much God cares, we can trust Him to do what He says.  We can have faith that He’ll take care of us in every situation.

F.F. Bosworth wrote in His Book Christ the Healer, “I have seen faith rise “mountain high’ when the truth of God’s present love and compassion begins to dawn upon the minds  and hearts of the people.  It is not what God can do, but what we know He yearns to do, that inspires faith.”  Remember that when you find yourself struggling to trust the LORD.

Spend some time in fellowship with Him, feeding on His words of love for you.  Receive and act on them in your relationship with others.  You will soon see for yourself that faith truly does work by love.