Growing Faith Blog

Are you struggling to persevere?

6/15/2025

If I asked you to mention the one thing that brings pure joy in your life, what would you answer?

Playing with the dog? Having the grandkids over? Winning the lottery? A walk on the beach? It wouldn't surprise me if we all came up with a different answer. Of course, there are no right or wrong answers here. There is, however, a surprising biblical answer.

Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance (James 1:2-3).

Excuse me? Calling the testing of our faith pure joy requires quite a shift in our thinking. The trials are not necessarily pure joy, but the testing of our faith is, because it develops perseverance. Why is it so important to have perseverance?

Perseverance must finish it work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:4). Now we're talking. I love this verse because it tells me that the development of perseverance in my life must finish its work; in other words, there is an end to every test of faith.

The answer to our 'why do we need perseverance' question is even more encouraging: so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. I don't know about you, but that is what I want.

The maturity as mentioned here is the Greek word 'teleios', which stands for: a right relationship with God that bears fruit in a sincere endeavor to love Him with all one's heart in undivided devotion, obedience and blamelessness.
The completeness as mentioned here is further explained in James 2:22, faith and actions working together makes our faith complete.
And last but not least, not lacking anything is a Biblical promise for believers. Psalm 34:9 says Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing!

The testing of our faith (sometimes through trial and error) is nothing more than the development of perseverance, which will make us mature, complete, lacking nothing. Is that pure joy, or what?

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Is your your faith being tested?

6/11/2025

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Do you feel that your faith is being tested, to see if it is genuine?

Maybe you find this a peculiar question. Of course, we have faith. Faith in God and in His Word and yes, we must show our faith by our actions (James 2:17).

But still, faith that hasn't been tested is no faith at all. Now, the Bible says our faith will be tested by trials and difficulties and/or we can test ourselves to find out if our faith is genuine.

2 Corinthians 13:5, Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. Interesting, isn't it? How do we test ourselves to see whether we stand in faith? If all goes well in life, there is no opportunity to test our faith. It is when things go wrong, we get the chance! We get the chance to see if what we believe will stand the test of time, even if we don't see it manifest in our lives at the moment.
1 Peter 1:6-7, So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. Tested faith will bring us much praise, glory, and honor in the future. So, the testing is never a bad investment.
And finally, when our faith is being tested, our endurance has a chance to grow. In James 1:2-4 we can read the following: Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

So, whether we test ourselves or we are being tested, it is the perfect opportunity to grow in our faith! Has your faith been tested? I would love to hear your story and who knows it might encourage someone else.

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Are you struggling to persevere?

Is your your faith being tested?

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