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Faith Concerning My Living

Understanding Faith – Lesson 1
Text: Galatians 2:20

As we begin this new series on Understanding Faith, we want to ask God to help us grow and stretch our faith. We must understand that faith in God is not passive—it must be exercised. Faith can increase, but it will not increase without being stretched.

Hebrews 11 reminds us: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith in something that is already seen or complete is not really faith at all—it is simply history, testimony, or recollection.

But real faith is operating in the unknown. It’s believing in the unseen. It’s trusting for an end when you’re just starting. It’s planting with expectation of a harvest. Faith says: “I believe God will make a way when it seems there is no way.”

So, let’s dig into this subject of faith for the next few weeks and ask God to make us people of faith.

Living by Faith

In our text, Paul declares: “The life I now live I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

If we are ever going to operate in faith about spiritual matters—salvation, sacrificial giving, ministry influence, and more—we must first believe by faith that God has included us personally in His plan.

Paul didn’t just say “we” or “humanity.” He said: “The life I now live…” Until we see ourselves individually in God’s plan, we will never truly walk by faith.

Sermon Outline

1. Faith in My Beginnings

  • We need to believe by faith that how we got our start was ordered by God.

  • The parents we had (or didn’t have), the family that raised us, the community we grew up in—it was all purposed by Him.

  • Jeremiah 1:5 reminds us that God knew us before we were even born.

  • It’s hard to have faith in God concerning our living if we think our beginning was a mistake.

2. Faith in My Today

  • Today is really our concern—but too often we miss it.

  • Yesterday’s battles distract us, and tomorrow’s worries rob our joy.

  • We don’t expect much to change. We know God can, but we doubt He will.

  • Matthew 6:31–34 tells us not to worry about life’s needs, but to “seek first the kingdom of God.”

  • Isaiah 41:10 reminds us not to fear, for God is with us today.

3. Faith in My Tomorrow

  • The greatest reason to have faith for tomorrow is because God has always been faithful in the past.

  • Look back over your life—God has been working, providing, and sustaining.

  • Whether you came from a Christian home or not, God has been present.

  • Hebrews 13:8 tells us: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

  • Malachi 3:6 says: “I change not.”

Faithfulness is not just something God does—it’s who He is. You and I may waver, but God cannot be unfaithful.

Closing Thought

The life we now live—we live by faith. Faith in our beginnings. Faith for our today. Faith for our tomorrow.

And if He has been faithful yesterday, He will be faithful today, and He will be faithful tomorrow.