Here’s what I know: My faith is real. So real that I’m ready to put it into action. So real that I’m prepared to travel the world in order to further God’s Kingdom and make disciples of all nations, wherever He sends me.
But sometimes people dismiss my faith. They tell me I’m too young. They tell me I haven’t really had my faith tested. It hurts when that happens. It hurts when you’re in a Bible study and you state your perspective and someone else breaks in and tells you that you’ll understand better when you’re older.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot the past few days. I’ve been trying to understand how I should respond to being dismissed, trying to think what Jesus would say and do. Trying to reconcile the way I see myself with the way others see me. I’ve come to a few conclusions.
First, it doesn’t matter how old I am or how many trials I’ve faced. Faith isn’t defined by any of those things. My heart is mine alone. My relationship with God is mine alone. And I’ve come to realize that’s what it’s truly about.
NEVER compare your faith to someone else’s. Because the fact is, nobody has perfect faith. If I try and compare my faith to someone else’s then I’m going to be missing the mark. I’m going to fall short of the faith I could have. The only measuring stick that matters is Jesus and myself. Only I can know how deep my relationship with Christ is. Only I can know if I’m on the path He has set before me. And my path is not the same as yours or anyone else’s.
I don’t want to miss the mark, but it’s hard not compare my faith to other people and it’s hard not to be hurt when other people compare my faith to some imaginary standard they’ve created. That’s real. That’s a struggle I face. I’m glad I’m figuring it out now. God knows my faith is real, and He knows how much my faith can grow. I’m glad God is putting this truth before me. I’m going on the World Race because my faith is strong enough to go and strong enough to realize it could be stronger. I don’t have anyone to prove this to except myself and my God.
And here’s my encouragement for you to do the same. It’s not going to be easy. In my experience, it’s far easier to compare ourselves to others than it is to trust God’s unchanging and unseen standard of truth. Your path isn’t my path, and I hope and I pray that you will live the road of faith set before you by God and not by somebody else because that is the only way we can truly bring God’s Kingdom to Earth. Other people may scoff or compare us to some standard they think is right, but we don’t have to let that bring us down or define us. Just because someone else dismisses our faith doesn’t mean we have to, and it certainly doesn’t mean God has. Use the only ruler that does matter. Jesus will always help us grow. Always.
