Is faith an aspect of love?

Let’s start with a trip down definition street: Pistis, in the Greek, refers to a divine guarantee of something, or being supernaturally persuaded or convinced of the truth of something revealed by God.

What has that do with the English word, “Faith”?

Well, here are the definitions put forth in the Webster’s Dictionary:

1a: allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty – lost faith in the company’s president

b(1): fidelity to one’s promises

2a(1): belief and trust in and loyalty to God

(2): belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion

b(1): firm belief in something for which there is no proof: clinging to the faith that her missing son would one day return

(2): complete trust

3: something that is believed especially with strong conviction – especially: a system of religious beliefs the Protestant faith

on faith : without question – took everything he said on faith

faith

verb

believe, trust

I think what we are seeing here is another situation where the current understanding of the English equivalent doesn’t quite cover the whole of the Greek sense, like what we saw with patience a few weeks ago. I suppose that I can be forgiven for understanding this as being a comment on an expanded ability to be loyal to a person, concept, or on a far reach for third place, belief in God. I do like the archaic verbal form of the word, though, as I think that it conveys the Greek thought better than the nominal sense which we hear used so much more frequently, it is a trust in Divine revelation, and more importantly than that, even, in the character of God himself. It is active. It is the choice to obey, even when things just don’t make sense in the natural. Ooh, I could go on for DAYS on this one, but I’m gonna keep it short for the sake of time, and not turning a devotion into a sermon or a book. Ok, enough on definitions… let’s see if it fits to say that Faith is related to the love of God.

Is faith a part of agape love? I posit yes. Why? Agape is divinely revealed, through scripture, but most importantly, through personal experience and receiving rhema words from God (whether directly or through another of his kids). We have to be divinely persuaded that this is true, though, that there is a God who lives us each more than we could comprehend, and so much that no thing or person could separate us from it. That is BIG, isn’t it? Would you like to receive this faith? Operate in it? It is as simple as asking him to reveal Truth to you, through an encounter with Him. He will meet you, and He will give you the faith you need to believe what He tells and shows you. Faith is a gift, and is not simply a blind thing, as it is based on the character of God. If He is Good -and He is- then we can trust Him. It takes time to discern His voice from all of the others, but in a supportive, safe community, you can learn to hear very accurately. In fact, I would say that it will seem alien at first, but that is the path to maturity in the Lord and experiencing more agape to share with others, as well as growing in the rest of the Fruit. You will develop wisdom and discernment as you emphasize intimacy with the Lord in your life. I’ve digressed quite a bit here, but I think that this was important and also somehow supported my initial assertion that Love and Faith are strongly linked, even if not as clearly as some of the earlier fruit was.

So, having said that, how did this strike you? Did this different definition of Faith encourage you in a way that the notion of faithfulness, as taught traditionally, might not have? Faith as a fruit of the Spirit? Hmmm… Trust in God that grows like a fruit on a tree? Active trust as a gift, where it can grow in the love and fellowship which the Spirit provides? Trust which has a foundation in the character of God and His goodness? Hmmm…

In the name of Jesus, I call forth the fruit of faith to come into reality in our lives. Come and reveal your love to us today. Make us more readily able to obey you every day because we are flowing with the Holy Spirit. I break off the false belief that blinds us to your love, and hardens us to those around us. I plead Jesus’ blood over any and all who read this or watch the video. I release the truth to each and every one.

Amen.