We have been studying faith. I was reminded of my baby Believer self. When I had begun to read the bible for myself. I was noticing the changes in my life and I was excited that there was evidence that I was on the right road. And then I ran into Romans 12:3. It reads: For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (KJV)
I read this verse just after I got the revelation that every word in the bible is there on purpose. I had a question. My question was, what is the measure of faith? I was thrown by the word “measure.” I knew it was a measurement of quantity. But, what was that quantity? Did everyone get the same or were there different amounts? Down the rabbit hole I went trying to figure out what my measure was.
I went on a quest to not only find it but to make a plan to achieve it. I discovered my competitive nature had found it’s way into my faith. Not so much that I wanted to compare myself to others but in the sense that I wanted to quantify my progress. I searched and searched for the number or formula that would reveal my spiritual measure. The verse didn’t elaborate or provide the conditions in which to find your measure.
Of course, this sparked another question. Does one have a small or large measure? I was spiraling. There were more questions than answers. I even asked Pastor Ruth if we have a set measure and we grow into it or if the measure grows as we grow. So many questions. I began to look up all the instances of the word “measure” in the bible. Throughout the bible this word measure is…well a unit of measurement. I wasn’t paying attention what I was reading my bible.
I had isolated the popular verses and statements. Perhaps I was hoping that something mystical would happen and they would speak to me. That they would reveal my measure. Finally, God put me out of my misery. He drew my attention to the word “the.” Read the verse again: according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. I realized was that 1) God decides how much we get and 2) it is one of the first gifts we receive from God.
When our belief was sparked by the Holy Spirit and declared Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we received gift of salvation. We also received the gift of faith. As we read further in the chapter, Paul continues to talk about operating in our spiritual gifts. Our faith feeds those gifts. We are then given the measure of faith to operate within the gifts God gives us. Our faith is the font from which our gifts flow. #mindblown!
Keep renewing your minds, trusting, and believing. Keep growing in faith. ~ Selah (Contributor: liveselah.com)
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