Greater Faith
Written By: Deborah Nimoh
Read: Matthew 8:5-13
“Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith” Matthew 8:10
Isn’t it interesting how we label people we barely know? It’s common to hear things like, “The one who sings, the light-skinned one, the one who always wears x or does y…” The traits that we think are telling, are what we reference when we explain people to others. Rarely ever do we describe people based on their level of faith like we see in the Bible.
The faith of the centurion is a story recorded in both Matthew and Luke’s accounts of the gospel. In Roman society, a centurion was a professional military officer, commanding a platoon of troops referred to as a “century.” Faced with the dilemma of losing his ailing servant who is near death, the centurion turns to Jesus to intervene. Because of the centurion’s humble approach, his demonstration of faith becomes a teachable moment.
From this story we can take away three key lessons:
1. Great Faith is Audacious
Great faith looks past how undeserving you are. In this story, the centurion’s messengers considered him worthy, but he himself acknowledged that he wasn’t. Despite knowing he was not entitled to anything, the centurion sought out Jesus because he trusted in the faithfulness of God regardless of what he had done and the person that he was. Great faith reveals that God will meet us where we are and respond to our NEED because of who HE is.
2. Great Faith Can Expedite the Process
When you have great faith, things that are expected to take longer can happen much sooner. Jesus went from planning to physically visit the sick servant to having him healed instantly by His word. This word was released because of the faith of the centurion. Once he declared his belief by faith, it was done.
3.Great Faith is a Distinguisher
At the end of this ordeal, Jesus noted that the centurion stood out as unique because of his faith. His faith made him incomparable to all the people of Israel because it was greater than anything Jesus had encountered up until that point. In this way, the centurion’s uniqueness allowed him to emerge as a leader for many others to emulate.
Reflection
How are you going to display greater faith in 2022? What are some of the actions you will take to reflect your greater faith?
Prayer
Father God, thank You for responding to great faith. I pray that in this year 2022, I will display a faith greater than ever before. In Jesus name, Amen.
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