Useful Bible Studies > Romans Commentary > chapter 12
Christians should be very careful in the opinions that they form about themselves. In this matter, it is so easy for us to think about ourselves either in a proud or a foolish manner. We imagine ourselves to be much stronger in our Christian life than we really are. So, we try to do something that is too difficult for us. As a result, perhaps, we fail in that task. We have caused our own troubles; we were trusting in ourselves and not in God.
Faith means belief and trust in God. It is not a quality that we have in ourselves; it is the gift of God. Some Christians have more faith than other Christians. So, they are more able to do difficult tasks in God’s work than those other Christians.
Some people seem willing to believe almost anything. That is not true faith; rather, it shows a simple or foolish attitude. Instead, faith is something that should develop in us during our Christian lives. In other words, our faith in God should become stronger as time passes.
Two things in particular will make our faith stronger: our study of the Bible, and our experiences:
(1) As we read God’s word in the Bible, we learn to trust him. God has given us wonderful promises, and those promises encourage us to believe him (Romans 10:17; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 6:17-18).
(2) Our experiences also help to make our faith stronger. Usually, we begin to trust God in small matters. God does not always give us what we request in prayer - but he never disappoints us. We see how he is working to achieve good things in our lives (8:28). That gives us the confidence to trust God more.
Next part: Christians should help each other (Romans 12:4-5)
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