Fanning the Flame of Faith – Forgiveness Part 1.

The flame of faith needs to be fanned back into life from time to time. Wendy Macdonald explains what she has experienced.

Why We Should Fan The Flame of Faith

Lately I’ve been waking up with a heavy heart, so I’ve started applying five ways to fan the flames of faith before the embers burn out. Feelings must not be allowed to snuff out the fervor of our faith. We’re either fanning the flames of our faith or we’re feeding on the fodder of fools. There’s no middle spiritual ground. Yes, moderation in all things is good. However, Scripture tells us plainly in Philippians 1:12,

“continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

We also need to fan the flames of faith to avoid being one of the statistics warned about in 1 Timothy 4:1

“The Spirit clearly says that in the latter times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”

Ouch.

How We Should Fan the Flame of Faith

Now that I’ve shown the ‘why’ for fanning our faith, let’s get started on the ‘how.’

I’d like to introduce an acronym I’ve created to help me remember a minimum of five steps to fervent faith; F-A-I-T-H – faith.

Today, we’ll look at the first one.

‘F’ is for ‘forgive.’ The first step to fervent faith is to make sure we’re forgiven and walking in the truth. Turning away from anything we know God is asking us to leave behind will draw us closer to Christ. Then we must remember to trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as our ticket to paradise. We are forgiven for our sins because we’ve believed and trusted on the One who made atonement for them. No one is good enough to burst through the gates of heaven on their own power or merit and no one is bad enough to be barred from entering. All that’s required is that we are born again, as it says in John 3:3;

“Jesus answered and said unto him, “verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.””

Required to Forgive

We’re also required to forgive others as we have been forgiven. Jesus warns us that if we haven’t forgiven, we’re not forgiven either. It’s a good idea to keep short accounts with God and others by asking for forgiveness for things we know we’ve done wrong. A clean conscience is divine and forgiving others brings peace of mind. So, when we find ourselves mulling and musing over that which we’ve already been forgiven for, we must remember that according to Psalm 103:12, Jesus

“removes our sins as far as the east is from the west,”

..blessed.

A Journey to Forgivness

One of the heavies hurting my heart lately is my journey towards fully forgiving someone whose harm to me has turned out to be much more than just a thorn in my past. Its tenacious taproot affected much more than our common ground. Two years ago, I stumbled upon the ‘why’ behind their views and uncovered way more than I realized was there.

Thankfully, the source of this information also encouraged my compassion towards the perpetrator. Not only did I realize it wasn’t my fault, but I also understood that this person doesn’t have the capacity to show love or empathy. God, however, is able to hold me, help me, and heal me.

Turn to The Healer

So, when the flames of our faith need fanning, we are wise to turn to the healer and ask for His forgiveness, for our part in it, as we forgive those who have also smothered the fervor of our faith.

I’d like to close with a short poem.

God gives us hope and healing

When we offer him our sorrow,

So, we can forgive yesterday

And have joy for tomorrow.

How do you fan the flame of faith? Why do you think that it is so difficult to forgive? What do you think is the connection between forgiveness and faith?  Contact us at HopeStreamRadio,  or comment below.