Are you living your faith? That’s a tough question, I know. Truly, what does it even mean to live your faith? There are so many ways we can approach the answer to that, but for now, I want to focus on two primary ways to measure it. Are you at peace with your life? And do you feel fulfilled with your life?
I believe that if you answered no to either of those questions, you probably are not living in your faith. Or not as fully as you can be anyway.
Let’s be clear, I don’t think we ever are living fully in faith day in and day out. We are always going to have doubts and fears. We’ll never run out of situations that cause us stress or anxiety. And even at the hight of fulfilling our calling, I think there will be times we will be striving for more.
That is the way we were created. God has a purpose for us and as long as we are on this side of heaven, there will be a longing deep inside of us that will draw us closer to Him and closer to the person we are created to be.
To me, living is faith is about trusting God even when it doesn’t make sense to do so. Last week’s episode of the show, called In God’s Timing, is a great example of a young woman who is living her faith. If you listened to the show, you know it is a journey for her, but by my estimation, she’d done an amazing job of it. I encourage you to go back and listen if you haven’t already.
In past episodes of the show, I’ve quoted Beth Moore as she has had a huge impact on my journey (or in a bid to one of her studies, I should say quest). I admire her love of Jesus and her boldness for speaking scripture over thousands of women near and far with her writing and speaking.
I recently had the rare opportunity to listen to an interview with Beth in a writers group I follow. I loved how she talked about how life is just a long journey and we are learning and growing every day along the way. What I took from her comments is that we are constantly becoming a new version of ourselves based on what we experience and learn from those we encounter. Who we are will certainly change as we live our lives.
I also loved how Beth Moore stated that we, as Christians, have this constant longing. A longing for Christ and his presence in our life. I just about cheered when I heard that comment because, to me, that is really what this podcast, Longing for More, is all about. That longing for more. More peace, fulfillment, and meaning that only Christ can bring to our lives.
Another way we can live our faith and gain more peace and fulfillment is to bring Jesus into every aspect of our lives. Not just the parts where we are serving at church, attending worship, or actively sharing our faith, but the parts where we are living our day to day activities.
I think this is where we who claim to be Christ-followers can often miss the boat. We have a tendency to separate our faith life from our “real” life. I know I’ve fallen short in this area over and over again. Especially when I thought I needed to act “professionally.” I’m sure there were times when I was reflecting God’s love even when I wasn’t actively trying to do so, but imagine how much more effective I could have been had I consciously tried to make an impact.
“What does that look like?” you may ask. To me, it looks like responding with patience and kindness when someone makes a mistake. It’s forgiving an action that was hurtful and unkind and showing a better way to respond. It’s holding a co-worker accountable when they cross the line and explaining to them why their action was unacceptable rather than just letting it slide. It’s really about helping those in our sphere of influence to become a better person, both by our words and by our actions.
When it comes right down to it, that is what I believe our purpose in life is. To live our faith and reflect the love of Jesus where we are. Not to seek accolades for what we do, collect trophies for all our wins, and garner the highest wages in a job we hate just because it affords a lifestyle we think we deserve. Not that any of those things in and of themselves are bad, but they should not be the focus. Serving should be the focus. If we put Christ in the center of our efforts, he will take care of the rest.
Honestly, living our faith can be challenging enough. But Scripture calls us to share that faith with others by the way we live and the words we use. When we acknowledge and then agree to step up to our calling to share our faith with the people we encounter in our lives, it can be daunting. Day to day practices and decisions that seem reasonable in the eyes of the world are often in conflict with our perspectives as believers. Let’s face it, succeeding in the professional world is difficult enough without constantly having to check oneself against Christian principles.
That is why it is important to have people in our lives who live their faith and will help us to do the same. People who will motivate us to be our best, help us to stay committed to our goal of walking in alignment with our values, and encourage us to take action when it may feel difficult to do so.
That is why we need to surround ourselves in a community of believers. We need others who have walked this path to help us when we aren’t sure where the next step will lead. People who love Christ and will encourage us and support us along the way. Esther demonstrated this when she was preparing to go before the King. She asked her people to pray for her. It is an important function of a community of believers to support one another in difficult times. We do it when someone is ill or struggling in a relationship, but how many times do we think to surround ourselves with believers to help us through our struggles in the workplace?
In the story of Nehemiah, he devised a plan where the workers were guarded by people who were there for the sole purpose of protecting them from the dangers they would encounter as they did their work. As Christians, we need people to help guard us against the dangers we can encounter in the work world, such as wandering away from our mission, from falling into un-Godly behaviors, and even aligning with people who will lead us astray. Although it isn’t likely to hire a team to stand constant guard, it is a good idea to have a team to help look out for one another so we can be free to be our best selves.
And it is for that reason that I’ve created a faith-based mastermind community for believers who are in a variety of professions. If you’re not familiar with what a mastermind is, it is simply a group of highly motivated people who come together to inspire, sharpen, challenge, support, and assist one another to improve in business, life, faith, relationships or some other shared interest. Napoleon Hill, the man who popularized the concept defined is as, “A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.”
The Living Your Faith Mastermind Community is for you if you’ve ever felt all alone in your effort to succeed in your work. It’s also for you if you’ve ever longed to be part of a faith-based, like-minded community of believers committed to living out your faith as a witness to God’s presence in your life. If you ever feel the pressure to keep your faith hidden in the work-world when you know God is asking you to have the courage to own your true identity, this could be the perfect place for you. If this sounds like you, I invite you to join us as we band together to begin living our faith in every aspect of life.
In this community, you will have access to mentors and friends who get you and understand the challenges you face. The beauty of mastermind groups is that participants raise the bar by challenging each other to create and implement goals, brainstorm ideas, and support each other with total honesty, respect, and compassion.
I love that the mastermind participants will be there to challenge one another when necessary, play devil’s advocates when needed, and hold each others’ hands through difficult times. To be successful in a mastermind, participants must be willing to be courageous enough to seek help, humble enough to accept it, and disciplined enough to follow through with it.
If the idea of a community of believers to help you through this stage of life sounds good to you, I encourage you to find a mastermind that is a good fit for you. In a healthy community, the members will give you feedback, help you brainstorm new possibilities, and set up accountability structures that keep you focused and on the right path. Whether Living Your Faith Community is the right one for you or not, please consider finding one that will offer you those things.
The community that will evolve in your mastermind will become a mainstay in your professional life and help you bridge the gap to being a better you in both your work and home life.
To read about the benefits and other details of becoming a part of the amazing opportunity to join The Living Your Faith Mastermind Community, go to vonajohnson.com/mastermind. I’ll be honest, it isn’t for everyone. It takes a commitment to be apart of such an important effort, but out of respect for your time, I’ve worked hard to keep the commitment of time and resources at a minimum while giving members adequate support and encouragement.
If you feel this is right for you or someone you know, visit the website and please share it with those you think may be looking for someone to lock arms with through this journey of life. Life is too short to spend our time feeling overwhelmed and unfulfilled. Find your true purpose and live a life of meaning and fulfillment it is important to surround yourself with people who can give you encouragement and support. But hurry if you want to take advantage of a really great offer for action-takers that will be expiring soon.
Thank you for stopping today. I know your time is valuable so I appreciate you taking the time to read this to the end.
Go, be blessed, and Live your More!
