The Shape of Your Faith
- I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
- And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
- For I say, through the Grace given unto me, to everyone that is among you, not to think of themselves more highly than you ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to everyone the measure of faith.
Romans 12:1-3
What is the Measure of Faith?
The most appealing thing about worship routines is that they give the feeling of religious security by simply repeating a couple of familiar religious activities. Some believers are convinced that as long as they do the bare minimum, it will yield great rewards from God. Yet, from God’s perspective, He is looking for those with strong faith and devoted service. It is amazing how some believers rely on a minimal spiritual diet and at the same time expect to accomplish great things in God’s Kingdom. But it does not work that way. Life is hard and it requires strong faith to keep us focused on the Lord. The point is, when our faith in the Lord is strong, we are capable of not only getting through struggles, but also being God’s faithful witnesses.
Let me give an example. Some saints are satisfied with reading a few verses in the morning and saying a quick prayer before heading into their daily activities. While there is nothing wrong with that routine, there will be times when we will need to tarry a while with the Lord. There will be times when the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray more or will prompt us to reread a Scripture passage. What does that mean? It means that the Lord is preparing you and getting you ready to face a test or to share a testimony. Those are times when we must follow God’s lead and allow Him to speak to our heart. Those are times when we are called to go beyond the minimum spiritual diet and really spend some time to build our faith. Those are the times when God is prompting us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to Him. God is calling us out of routine worship into living faith and He is doing it for a reason. The Lord is preparing you for service or is sending you a warning that there is a trial ahead. Either way, a devoted child of God will yield to the Holy Spirit’s prompting an offer themselves willingly. This is what our Lord Jesus did and He expects the same from His followers. God’s word admonishes us to serve the Lord with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength. That means we give God all or we give God none.
While every believer has been given a particular ‘measure of faith’ we are all expected to use that faith in order to glorify God. Whether we honor God by passing a test of faith or we honor God by sharing a message of encouragement with others, it is critical to offer God our best. That is what Paul is admonishing us to do in these verses. I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. It should be noted that applying faith is not a human activity and the requirements go beyond human ability. People who think they can accomplish God’s purpose through the means of human ability are deceiving themselves. Paul issues this warning: For I say, through the Grace given unto me, to everyone that is among you, not to think of themselves more highly than you ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to everyone the measure of faith. It is that sober thinking that leads us to examine whether or not our faith is working. So, it is proper to find out the shape of our faith. This will be a double purpose message. On the one hand, we will need to examine what is shaping our faith or belief system. On the other hand, we must find out if our faith is healthy enough to stand the tests of life.
Fitness for Kingdom Duties
Let’s begin with fitness for spiritual duty. We have all worked in the public sector and we know the term well. The expectation of the employer is that the staff would be capable of fulfilling the job functions. If the job requires certain physical abilities, the employee would be expected to meet the minimum requirements for that position. No one would expect a person to be able to lift one hundred pounds if they only weighed ninety-eight pounds. The person has to be physically fit in order to perform those duties. With that in mind, we are expected by God to be able to perform spiritual duties of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is literally impossible to perform those duties without being totally surrendered to the Lord. The Apostle Paul tells us that the minimum requirement for Kingdom work is that we give ourselves totally to the Lord. You present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. So the first thing I must ask myself is whether or not I am giving God half my faith or all of it? I must determine if I want to serve God or if I only want something from God. What is the shape of my faith?
You might call this fitness for duty test, the test of commitment. Commitment is the level of dedication that I have to the Lord. While many say they are committed, I have found that those are only words. Fully committed people don’t stop serving when people talk about them. Fully committed people don’t quit when the going gets tough. Fully committed people follow Jesus all the way. Fully committed people know that their fitness for duty does not rest on their shoulders, but on the inner strength of the Holy Spirit. In seasons of trials, they put their trust in God. If you want to know the shape of your faith, then ask yourself whether the Holy Spirit has control of your life.
Serving the Lord is not just a matter of commitment, it is also a matter of conforming. What will God’s service look like? Listen to the Apostle Paul’s second challenge. Be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. This test really involves how I plan to implement my service to God. While there are many who are fully committed to doing what God wants done, they still struggle with doing it their way.
There were a couple of people in the Bible who were committed to giving to God but they did it their way. One was the first king of Israel. Saul started off humbly serving God, but then quickly focused on who he was rather than the greatness of God. Saul carried out God’s orders with half-hearted service. Then he became jealous of everyone else who may have gotten more credit. His life ended in tragedy because he failed to conform to God’s standard. If only he had checked his own heart and allowed God to transform his thinking, the outcome could have been different.
Another person that allowed himself to drift into a negative attitude regarding God’s will was Jonah. Jonah was a prophet of God and received a message from God regarding the people of Nineveh. Rather than conforming to God’s way of handling the situation, he chose to do something else. Of course, God had to demonstrate to Jonah that he was in rebellion by allowing him to be swallowed by an enormous fish, there was something else that had swallowed Jonah that he could never shake. That prophet had conformed to the worldly thinking that ‘some people don’t deserve God’s Grace.’ The Lord reminded the prophet that He was merciful to all mankind.
Believe it or not, we all struggle with doing things God’s way. We believe in what’s right but we also believe that we know how it should be done. That is called worldly thinking. Be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. If we are asking, what am I going to get out of this, that is worldly thinking. If we ask, do the people deserve a blessing, that is worldly thinking. If we are critical of others doing something, that is worldly thinking. If we think we know more than others, or that we are some how more blessed than others, that is worldly thinking. It is very possible that we have the right foundation, which is Jesus Christ, and then build the wrong things on that foundation or build with the wrong motives. For that reason, we must check the shape of our faith.
Getting Your Faith in Shape
So, what do we do about worldly thinking? Is there a way to build our faith? The answer is “yes.” These verses also contain some powerful remedies for helping the saints to become strong in the Lord and in the power of His Might. First, make a presentation of yourself to God, that is, to present your body to the Lord. This means to dedicate exclusively to God. Your body cannot be used for any other purpose or function than for God’s Glory. Both the Jews and Gentiles would have been familiar with this. Under the Jewish Law, an offering was presented on the altar and was dedicated exclusively to God. In pagan worship, the gift was offered exclusively to that pagan god. They understood the meaning. Now Paul was pleading with them to offer themselves alive for God’s service. That is the first step in shaping your faith.
The second remedy is to not be conformed or shaped by the world. Don’t let the influences around you shape your faith in God. Be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Whenever we allow the outside influences to shape our faith in God, we will always have weak faith. The Bible says, Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Romans 10:17. Voices of doubt, compromise, wickedness, or worldly pressure should not determine what I believe. If you have committed your life to God, then let God shape your faith. Why? God will always love you. God will always tell you what’s good. God will always provide for you and care for you. God can be trusted but the world can never be trusted.
At the same time, we must apply the third remedy. We must allow God’s Spirit to transform our way of thinking. How does that work? God transforms us by renewing our mind in the Spirit. The more you read the Bible under the direction of the Holy Spirit, God will speak to your mind new thoughts, new answers, and new challenges. God will always tell you the Truth and will lead you into applying that Truth to your life.
The fourth remedy to shaping your faith is to think soberly. Paul warns to not think of themselves more highly than you ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to everyone the measure of faith. The Biblical sobriety test is different from that of the world. The world tests to see if you have a wrong substance that is creating wrong thinking while the Bible tests to see if you have the right substance that will lead you to right living. Jesus said, “As a person thinks in their heart so is he.” The Bible calls it to be in your right mind. It is to have a disciplined mind. It is to be of a correct mind. Such a mind can only come as a gift of the measure of faith. With that faith, the child of God is ready to conduct Kingdom business. They are fit for the Lord’s duty. Their mind has been strengthened and their soul has been sanctified in Christ.
The soul is in good shape because they have gone through God’s testing. Those whose faith is in good shape can say, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” They can say, “The Lord is the Light of my Life of whom shall I fear?” Having that confidence will always make us fit for God’s duty and ready for any battle.