Articles
Mind Your Own Faith
You may have heard the phrase “Mind your own business”before. It’s been said many times to many people that just couldn’t seem to keep watch of their own affairs. In truth, it can be easy to get involved in the affairs of another man’s life while we let our own affairs get out of hand.
Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 7:3-5 as He addressed hypocritical judgment. At times we are so consumed with the affairs of others we forget to give necessary attention to our own issues. In particular we ought to consider that we need to be devoting time to “minding our faith.”By that I mean, we need to look after it as we would a small child. Food, nurture, love and care is of utmost important for the survival of our faith.
I want you to realize, however, that while we have a family to help us along the way and an amazing God who gives us strength and wisdom, we need to ensure that we all individually look after our faith. There are some people, however, that are professionals at looking after the faith of others. This is not just encouragement and edification (which when issued in doses is good) but they make it their aim to meddle in the lives of others. They want to tell them everything they need to do and how to do it not allowing them the opportunity to “mind their faith”.
At some point in our lives, we all need to learn to navigate the choppy waters of trouble, trials and temptations. Things will be hard, and we may fall and thus we need to cultivate a faith that trusts and hopes in God. We cannot depend on the faith of another person to get to Heaven. It does not matter how many sermons the preacher preaches when I’m at services or how many songs we sing in worship. When it’s all said and done, God will hold me accountable for what I have done and how I have looked after my faith.
If my effort is focused on trying to fix someone when I have problems of my own to resolve, then I am being a hypocrite. Remember, the man that thinks he stands must take heed lest he fall (cf. 1 Cor. 10:12). Don’t misunderstand me. Encouragement and edification are necessary but there are limits to how much we do. The faith of another person will not help me. I must and will answer for my own faith on the day of judgment. Let’s always strive to help each other but remember to “mind our own faith.”
