By Claire Martin
When you hear the word faith, what do you think of? Maybe it’s George Michael singing “You gotta have faith, faith, faith”. Perhaps it’s a friend encouraging you to have faith that something’s going to work out. But for us as Christians, “Faith is being sure of the things we hope for” (Hebrews 11:1).
There are so many situations in life that are out of our hands. However, the one thing we can know for certain is that we can be saved through Jesus’ death and resurrection if we trust in Him. That’s what salvation is – and it’s not based on anything we can do ourselves. We could spend our whole lives trying, but we could never be saved through doing good things or being nice to people. Placing our faith in being a ‘good’ person or living a ‘good’ life won’t get us anywhere, but placing our hope and faith in Jesus by recognising all He has done for us is the sole thing that has the power to transform our lives. The only way we can access this beautiful, free gift of salvation is through placing our faith and hope in Jesus.
So, what does faith in Christ alone look like in our daily lives?
It gives us a whole new perspective and purpose in life. Living in the love Jesus poured out at the cross should impact every detail of our life and change us profoundly as people. It should cause us to be filled with joy that Jesus did everything for us on the cross. Focusing on faithfully living for the Lord over living for any earthly thing will align our hearts with His; thankfulness will bubble up within us and overflow like a fountain, gushing through the things we say and how we love others.
How does faith in Christ alone help, encourage and motivate us in our summer ministry?
Firstly, acknowledging daily the gift of salvation God has given to us will drive us to share this merciful gift of grace with everyone that we meet. We will embody the qualities of Jesus, showing mercy and grace to kids, teens, people in the streets and towns, parents, dish staff – anyone!
Secondly, it reminds us of the urgency to seek God for salvation. It renews our vision to share the gospel with the lost, in whatever stage of life they may be.
