This Is What Faith Looks Like

By Andrea Lucado

As we wrap up our month of talking about faith, it seems appropriate to dig into the life of a person, the only person, who had perfect faith: Jesus.

Jesus modeled faith throughout his ministry on earth. If you are wondering how to have faith, or what faith can look like in your life, Jesus provides numerous examples, but let’s just look at a couple of them right now.

The Temptation of Jesus

To kick off his three years of ministry, Jesus was led into the wilderness and tempted by Satan. You can read about this in Matthew, chapter 4. He fasted for forty days and forty nights. Afterward, scripture says the tempter came to him and tempted him in three ways.

First, with food, then, with power, and lastly, with control. He was offered a practical need and then two deeply seeded human desires. To each of these temptations, Jesus responded with scripture that details who God is.

Referencing Deuteronomy 8:3, he said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Matthew 4:4

Referencing Deuteronomy 6:16, he says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”  Matthew 4:7

And referencing Deuteronomy 6:13, he says, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”  Matthew 4:10

What this says about Jesus’ faith is that even in his most vulnerable moment, he did not put faith in worldly things. His faith did not rest on power, or control, or even the necessity of food. He knew that real faith relied on God, and God alone.

In our moments of weakness and vulnerability, we are often tempted to put all of our faith and hope into what we think we need, whether that is a practical need, like money, or a need like power and control that is typically rooted in fear. But if our faith looked like Jesus’, we wouldn’t rely on the things of this world. We would return to God again and again and declare that our faith is in him alone, for only he can provide what we truly need.

The Appointment of the Disciples

We see Jesus exemplify faith in another way during his early days of ministry when he appoints his disciples, the group of 12 who would follow him on his journey and ultimately start the work of spreading the gospel (Mark 3:13-19).

Only one disciple, Bartholomew, is believed to have come from royal blood. The other 11 were made up of fishermen, zealots and one tax collector. Jesus chose an unlikely bunch to be the bearers of good news, but in choosing them, he showed he had great faith in them.

This reveals to us another side of faith, the side of having faith in others as crucial members of the body of Christ. It’s easy to distrust people, to not view them as competent enough or reliable. Maybe we think they’re too young or too inexperienced. But through his choosing of the 12, Jesus shows us that anyone in Christ is able to fulfill his mission.

We are united under his name now. We must trust each other if we are going to spread the gospel, and if we are going to grow in our own faith, we must be able to have faith in others, not based on their status or abilities but on the fact that we are all found in Christ.

Jesus exemplified faith in so many ways. If you want to read more about his life and ministry on earth, check out our study Jesus In Action.

We hope your faith has been challenged and strengthened this month. If you missed any of our previous posts, catch up here:

Trusting Who Is With You When You Can't See What's Ahead of You

Faith Is Not Blind

What It Means to Be Justified Through Faith

Where to Find Strength When Your Faith Is Weak