5 Questions to Ask Yourself That Will Challenge Your Faith

Pastors

Carbonatix Pre-Player Loader

Audio By Carbonatix

9:30 AM on Tuesday, September 23

By Vivian Bricker, Pastors

1. What Am I Doing for Jesus?

I saw a question posed on a church sign as I was driving to a doctor’s appointment: “Jesus has done so much for you. What have you done for Him?” This question hit me in a different way because it was not just another “Jesus loves you” sign. Rather, it was a question that truly challenged our faith. What are we doing for Jesus? Are we doing anything at all? 

As I checked in for my appointment, I started scanning through my brain what things I have done for Jesus just in the past week. The only thing that kept coming into my mind was my mission trip, but that was over five years ago! I quickly felt defeated as I sat down to wait to be called back. Ever since I saw this sign, I have been trying to think of things that I can actually do for Jesus. It is true—the Lord has done so much for us, yet we have done little for Him.

Out of the love we have for Him, we should try to make a difference in the world for Him. Now, our salvation is not at stake, but doing good deeds for the Lord is a natural outpouring of the love we have for Him. James, the half-brother of the Lord, tells us, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds” (James 2:18). Our faith and deeds work together to demonstrate we belong to Jesus. 

These good deeds won’t save us, as we are already saved by the blood of Jesus, but they will help others see Jesus through us. This will help more people come to know the Lord and accept Him as their Savior. However, it is also important that we don’t do good deeds with the expectation that God will somehow reward us. We should want to do good things for Jesus because we genuinely want to do good things for Him.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/SeventyFour 


2. Am I Living for Jesus?

Every single one of us has two options: Are we living for ourselves or for Jesus? These are the only options, and we need to be honest with ourselves. Most of us already have a gut feeling about who we are living for, and we need to go ahead and think about what necessary changes we have to make in our lives. 

Paul tells us, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). These are the exact words we should echo in our own lives. Christ lives in us, and the life we live, we live for Christ. By taking up this declaration and way of life, we will truly be living out our faith. 

If we are living for ourselves, it will only end in destruction. Mankind is born into sin, and we all freely sin (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23); therefore, we cannot say a life living for ourselves is something that is pleasing to God. The world promotes the idea that we should “live our best life” and do whatever we want, but our “best life” is actually found in serving the Lord, obeying Him, and loving Him with our entire hearts.

Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Hannah Olinger 


3. Do I Practice What I Preach?

Many of us have seen crooked pastors not practicing what they preach, but are we practicing what we preach? It is easy to judge others; however, what if we weighed our actions against Scripture? Jesus challenges us by saying, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).

We need to assess our own actions before we point out problems in other people’s lives. If we look at the Lord and His life, His words and actions always match. We have to ask ourselves if our words and actions are also aligned. If they are not, then we need to start making the necessary changes in our lives. In other words, we have to practice what we preach. 

If we tell others to follow Jesus, we need to follow Jesus. If we tell others to be faithful to the Lord, we need to be faithful to the Lord as well. If we tell others to trust Jesus, then we also need to trust Jesus. These are all ways where we can practice what we preach. Live out our Christian walk by actually doing what the Lord says rather than sitting in judgment on others.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/MangoStar_Studio 


4. Do I Truly Obey Jesus?

Some of us think we are obeying Jesus when we really are not. Simply going to church is not full obedience to Jesus. To fully obey Jesus, we must do as He instructs us. Micah 6:8 tells us, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Are we acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly?

If we don't obey Jesus, then we are not truly living out our faith. Our entire relationship with Him will crumble if we don’t obey what He says. How can we say we love Him if we don’t do what He commands? We need to assess our own lives and truly see if we are obeying Him. If we are not, we can start changing how we approach life and our faith. 

Rather than only claiming to obey him, we will actually be obeying Him. We will love God with all of our heart, mind, and soul, and love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). There will be no room for injustice, favoritism, unfairness, or heresy. Instead, we will truly live for Jesus and challenge our faith to reflect the Lord.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Motortion.jpg


5. When Others Look at Me, Do They See Jesus?

I once heard a fellow college student ask, “When others look at you, do they see Jesus?” She thought this was quite a challenging question, but all the other Bible students at our college simply said “yes” and confidently walked by. Unfortunately, none of these students reflected Jesus in any light. They were brought up in the church, yet their actions were far from Jesus. The worst part is that these individuals weren’t even aware of their apparent misalignment with Jesus.

This happens to many people as they think that just because they wear certain clothes and force a fake smile, they are reflecting Jesus to the world. Reflecting Jesus to the world means you walk as He did. You love others, are kind to others, and show fairness between individuals. You are not self-seeking, mean, rude, or proud. 

Look over your own life and see what your behaviors actually align with. Are they aligning with Jesus, or are they aligning with sin? The mirror can tell you nothing. You have to look at your actions and behaviors. Our actions speak louder than words, and they will tell us if Jesus truly influences our lives or not. 

When others look at us and truly see Jesus, their lives will be changed. They will long for a relationship with Him and to know Him more. However, if our actions show us to be hypocrites, the outside world will also associate this negatively with Jesus. In other words, they will believe Jesus to be mean, hurtful, and rude if we act in this manner. As believers, we need to grow in our own faith so that others can see Jesus in us.

Photo Credit: © Unsplash/elisa-ph  

This content first appeared on Crosswalk.com and is used here with permission. To view the original visit: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/questions-to-ask-yourself-that-will-challenge-your-faith.html
 

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5 Questions to Ask Yourself That Will Challenge Your Faith

Pastors

Carbonatix Pre-Player Loader

Audio By Carbonatix

9:30 AM on Tuesday, September 23

By Vivian Bricker, Pastors

1. What Am I Doing for Jesus?

I saw a question posed on a church sign as I was driving to a doctor’s appointment: “Jesus has done so much for you. What have you done for Him?” This question hit me in a different way because it was not just another “Jesus loves you” sign. Rather, it was a question that truly challenged our faith. What are we doing for Jesus? Are we doing anything at all? 

As I checked in for my appointment, I started scanning through my brain what things I have done for Jesus just in the past week. The only thing that kept coming into my mind was my mission trip, but that was over five years ago! I quickly felt defeated as I sat down to wait to be called back. Ever since I saw this sign, I have been trying to think of things that I can actually do for Jesus. It is true—the Lord has done so much for us, yet we have done little for Him.

Out of the love we have for Him, we should try to make a difference in the world for Him. Now, our salvation is not at stake, but doing good deeds for the Lord is a natural outpouring of the love we have for Him. James, the half-brother of the Lord, tells us, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds” (James 2:18). Our faith and deeds work together to demonstrate we belong to Jesus. 

These good deeds won’t save us, as we are already saved by the blood of Jesus, but they will help others see Jesus through us. This will help more people come to know the Lord and accept Him as their Savior. However, it is also important that we don’t do good deeds with the expectation that God will somehow reward us. We should want to do good things for Jesus because we genuinely want to do good things for Him.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/SeventyFour 


2. Am I Living for Jesus?

Every single one of us has two options: Are we living for ourselves or for Jesus? These are the only options, and we need to be honest with ourselves. Most of us already have a gut feeling about who we are living for, and we need to go ahead and think about what necessary changes we have to make in our lives. 

Paul tells us, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). These are the exact words we should echo in our own lives. Christ lives in us, and the life we live, we live for Christ. By taking up this declaration and way of life, we will truly be living out our faith. 

If we are living for ourselves, it will only end in destruction. Mankind is born into sin, and we all freely sin (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23); therefore, we cannot say a life living for ourselves is something that is pleasing to God. The world promotes the idea that we should “live our best life” and do whatever we want, but our “best life” is actually found in serving the Lord, obeying Him, and loving Him with our entire hearts.

Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Hannah Olinger 


3. Do I Practice What I Preach?

Many of us have seen crooked pastors not practicing what they preach, but are we practicing what we preach? It is easy to judge others; however, what if we weighed our actions against Scripture? Jesus challenges us by saying, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).

We need to assess our own actions before we point out problems in other people’s lives. If we look at the Lord and His life, His words and actions always match. We have to ask ourselves if our words and actions are also aligned. If they are not, then we need to start making the necessary changes in our lives. In other words, we have to practice what we preach. 

If we tell others to follow Jesus, we need to follow Jesus. If we tell others to be faithful to the Lord, we need to be faithful to the Lord as well. If we tell others to trust Jesus, then we also need to trust Jesus. These are all ways where we can practice what we preach. Live out our Christian walk by actually doing what the Lord says rather than sitting in judgment on others.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/MangoStar_Studio 


4. Do I Truly Obey Jesus?

Some of us think we are obeying Jesus when we really are not. Simply going to church is not full obedience to Jesus. To fully obey Jesus, we must do as He instructs us. Micah 6:8 tells us, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Are we acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly?

If we don't obey Jesus, then we are not truly living out our faith. Our entire relationship with Him will crumble if we don’t obey what He says. How can we say we love Him if we don’t do what He commands? We need to assess our own lives and truly see if we are obeying Him. If we are not, we can start changing how we approach life and our faith. 

Rather than only claiming to obey him, we will actually be obeying Him. We will love God with all of our heart, mind, and soul, and love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). There will be no room for injustice, favoritism, unfairness, or heresy. Instead, we will truly live for Jesus and challenge our faith to reflect the Lord.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Motortion.jpg


5. When Others Look at Me, Do They See Jesus?

I once heard a fellow college student ask, “When others look at you, do they see Jesus?” She thought this was quite a challenging question, but all the other Bible students at our college simply said “yes” and confidently walked by. Unfortunately, none of these students reflected Jesus in any light. They were brought up in the church, yet their actions were far from Jesus. The worst part is that these individuals weren’t even aware of their apparent misalignment with Jesus.

This happens to many people as they think that just because they wear certain clothes and force a fake smile, they are reflecting Jesus to the world. Reflecting Jesus to the world means you walk as He did. You love others, are kind to others, and show fairness between individuals. You are not self-seeking, mean, rude, or proud. 

Look over your own life and see what your behaviors actually align with. Are they aligning with Jesus, or are they aligning with sin? The mirror can tell you nothing. You have to look at your actions and behaviors. Our actions speak louder than words, and they will tell us if Jesus truly influences our lives or not. 

When others look at us and truly see Jesus, their lives will be changed. They will long for a relationship with Him and to know Him more. However, if our actions show us to be hypocrites, the outside world will also associate this negatively with Jesus. In other words, they will believe Jesus to be mean, hurtful, and rude if we act in this manner. As believers, we need to grow in our own faith so that others can see Jesus in us.

Photo Credit: © Unsplash/elisa-ph  

This content first appeared on Crosswalk.com and is used here with permission. To view the original visit: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/questions-to-ask-yourself-that-will-challenge-your-faith.html
 

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