Faith vs. Belief

Most of the people I know believe in God. There are a few exceptions, but if asked, the majority would say yes, they believe there is a God. For years, I said I ‘believed’, but it didn’t really matter to me. I had no idea what God was like and I honestly didn’t really care. I cried out to him when I was in trouble, but for the most part, beyond that, I didn’t think of him much.

I remember asking him once, if he was real, to please show me. I had some vague general ideas about him, and believed that I was a basically ‘good’ person. I could always find someone who I thought of as ‘worse’ than myself, and I figured if he was going to decide who could get into Heaven and who would be left out, I was a shoe in. I was a severe skeptic when it came to ‘religion’. I believed they were all schemes of man, designed to make money and I didn’t want anything to do with any of it. I supposed there were ‘good’ Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Hindu, Muslims, etc. and the ‘good’ ones would go to Heaven. I never really thought through the problems of what I believed. I never really thought through much of anything… but in my mind, I was a ‘believer’.

Thankfully, God looked past my stubborn arrogance and in spite of me, used every circumstance and his loving kindness to draw me to him. He patiently works in my life to show me his truth instead of my own. He opens my eyes to see his goodness. He shows me how much he loves me and what he has done for us. Until I began to understand this, I was only a ‘believer’ and even the demons believe (Luke 10:17). God wanted to bring me to faith.

There’s a huge difference between faith and belief. Belief is a vague notion surrounded by MY ideas, MY desires and MY needs. Faith is trust… trust that God is wiser than my ideas, knows my desires and will supply all of my needs. Faith in God is much more than believing… it is trusting in him. Belief is something that happens only in my head. Faith happens in my heart. Belief can leave me empty and unchanged. Faith changes my life from the inside out. Lord, build my faith!

Hebrews 4:2
For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.