Day 2443 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV

This faith of ours is a journey, and it's a long one. It's a life-long experience that brings with it plenty of highs and quite a few lows as well. It's a journey filled with endless opportunities to grow as well as plenty of mistakes that get made along the way. But I think some can get lost under the weight of how important this walk is. I think the seriousness of it all can begin to wear some folks thin and maybe even lead to doubts and frustrations that may create some massive stumbling blocks.

The past couple of days I've been thinking back on how far Christ has brought me from who I used to be. And I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to do the same. Take a couple of minutes and think about the growth, the changes, the improvements that you've experienced in your life since finding Christ. I promise you'll be amazed at just how much He's done and how far you've come from the person you once were and the life you once lived.

We tend to get stuck focusing on how much we still have left to do. We keep these lists of things that we have to fix, address, and get done. And we become obsessed with everything that we still need to check off and all the areas that we still need to improve. But we can't afford to forget all that's been accomplished so far. We can't overlook all that He has done in our lives up to this point because those things are the building blocks that helped create the foundation that we can continue to build our faith upon.

I know that I seem to do that very thing in these posts. Here lately I've talked a lot about the heavy and serious side of our faith more than I've talked about anything else. The truth of sin and the need for repentance is something that cannot be talked about enough because it's a fight that we'll be engaged in for as long as we're on this earth. But I also realize that constantly hearing about everything we're doing wrong will only deepen this feeling that we'll never be enough and never measure up. And for some, that feeling could very well lead to just giving up.

So we need to encourage one another as well. We need to celebrate the victories and the growth that we see and hear about in one another. We need to rejoice over the good that God is doing in our lives because our testimonies and the improvements we experience can seriously help those around us. And having joy in our hearts helps us keep going. It inspires us to try harder, go deeper, and strive to see what else He can do in us.

Again, take some time to reflect back on all that God has done in your life and the challenges and changes that He has brought you through. Chances are that you just might be amazed at just how far you've come. And you may find that it leaves you feeling this renewed excitement about all that He has in store moving forward. Let's just be honest, sometimes all of us need a little morale boost and some encouragement to keeps the wind in our sails.

Friends, our faith isn't about just one thing or a single topic. It's the all-encompassing life that we find when we accept Christ into our hearts and surrender our plans to His promises. It's something that we can continue to grow in and experience with every breath we take while on this earth. And we should take the time to celebrate and be thankful for every single bit of it.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold