Faith and its magic

The kind of faith and trust discussed here is found in the Bible, the word of God. The Bible outlines God’s guidelines as the greatest treasure to set the pace for us in our earthly sojourn.
Faith helps us to put into practice what the Bible instructs us to do. The Bible reminds that “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (James 1:23-24).
We should desire to study the Bible and let the word of the Lord influence our lifestyles. We should always make an effort to put to practice what we already know about God and as a result we will be purposeful, prudent and productive.
Faith removes confusion, self-deception, prejudice, and indiscriminate human pride from our lives. Naturally, human beings are accustomed to playing favorites, but the Bible teaches us to treat people of different classes equally.
In James 2:1-4 God says, “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”
If you are a person of faith you will be able to respect others regardless of their social standing in the society. You will be able to encourage the rich not to undermine or despise the poor and at the same rate, teach the poor not to ridicule the rich because both groups are equally loved and sustained by an impartial God. Faith removes all barriers that human beings have set for themselves and encourages us to be balanced and promote equality in God’s presence.
Faith will motivate us to be action-oriented because “faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26). Practically, how one conducts his/her life would prove whether he is of faith or not. Faith in God teaches us to control our tongue. It is only God who can grant us the ability to tame our tongues. James 3:8 states that “but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” We should strive for peace and avoid godless conversation. With faith you have no room for gossip because it brings discord and dissension among people. On the contrary, a person of faith finds comfort in that “peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:18).
Faith makes us humble and wise. James 3:13 says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” The Bible invites us to make God our personal companion. It says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8).
A confident person ÔÇô whose trust is in God ÔÇô is naturally humble. It is through your faithfulness that you maintain humility as a virtue. It is also your faith that makes you wait patiently for the second coming of Christ. The goal of faith is eternal life and this is why the Bible encourages us to be conscious of Christ’s soon return: “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains” James 5:7).
A person of faith prays for the afflicted. “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven” James 5:15). As we pray for others we will be forgiven in the process and we will continue to grow in grace. Faith enables us to have the courage to confront our erring friend in love because “whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).
Having faith God can make you to be changed into the most amazing person, thus making you optimistic and courageous to face any challenging situation in life. Jesus once reminded His disciples that they could not drive out a demon from small boy because they had not cultivated much trust in God. He says to us today that “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:19-20).