Stir Up Your Faith

On the day that you stand before God and He holds you to account, you’re not going to say, “I never read that.” Just look at 2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 1, and Ecclesiastes 12:14. See, whether you understand it or not, you’re accountable to the Word of God. That’s why it’s important to understand His Word, and it’s not that we understand to get faith, but rather it’s by faith we understand. The Bible isn’t a brilliance book to make you smarter. It’s alive to come in and to teach you and train your heart from within so that you can go to Holy Ghost boot camp every day of your life and you can train and not fight as one who beats the air, but you can train as one who’s going to win the prize.

Everybody competes, but, I don’t know about you—I am running so that I can win the race. Not so that I can beat you. My race isn’t against you. The race is against me. See, in a traditional athletic race, when I’m lined up, and there are nine other runners, I’m running against them. But not in the race set before us in the Kingdom. In this Kingdom race, I’m running against me in my lane. The Bible doesn’t say “deny the other runners.” It says in Matthew 16:24 to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Jesus. This is not a competition where one is better than the other, where you share a testimony, but then I have to share a testimony so that I can one-up you and feel like what I shared is better than what you just shared. No. That’s not healthy, and yet that happens all the time among believers. You’re in a conversation with somebody, they share a testimony, and you’re thinking, “I’ve got one better than that.” And then you share, and then somebody else shares, and the motivation of the “testimony” time just becomes a time to one-up each other. That’s terrible. Do you know what the point of sharing a testimony is? Testimonies bring glory to Jesus; not only because it happened, but because there’s a multiplying effect when they’re shared. Testimony means “do it again.” When you share a testimony, it impregnates the air for people who hear it to understand that it can be done again because God shows no favoritism. What He does in one life, He’ll do in your life. So when someone shares a testimony, instead of thinking of one that’s “better than” theirs, think about what they just shared and say, “God, I need that in MY life.” Because the grace that’s on the word that they just shared is the same grace that empowered them to walk out this truth and to see that gift active.

When you honor the reality of a testimony in someone else’s life, you develop a culture that is testimony-conscious without it developing into a works mentality where you say, “Mine was better than theirs.” So you have to really protect your heart, and the only way you can protect your heart is by understanding what grace is. Grace empowers you to walk out what truth calls you to. You being able to be alone with God and not be jealous because of someone else’s testimony comes from a place of intimacy with God. When you have a relationship with God, you’re secure in who you are because the only thing that matters is what He calls you: His son. His daughter. When you know He’s your Father and understand what that means, your heart position becomes one that says, “God, they shared that testimony today, and it so captivated my heart—I want that to happen in my life!” It stirs up your faith for everything that God has for YOU!