Let us delve into our measure of faith in three aspects in order to exactly check the measure of faith, improve our faiths, and attain to the level of faith enough worthy to enter into the City of New Jerusalem.
First: the Depth of Your Heart
How can you check the depth of your heart? The depth of heart here refers to how much spiritual love, virtue, and gentleness you've achieved. You can also check in light of the levels of goodness.
Do you not complain right away and try to reason when there are things that do not agree with you? Don't you get impatient and try to sort things out if anything is a loss to you? If you tried hard but are not recognized, and if you feel you're falling behind, don't you lose heart and leave your post? If these things are true of you, you are not even in the first level of goodness! You can't really be deemed to have faith.
In the first level of goodness, you can be patient with and do not pay back evil to others who are acting with evil. You have some ill-feelings and discomfort, but you suppress them. In the world, they will say you are good, but in God's sight you're not. True goodness is not to suppress hard-feelings. You must not have them in the first place. This is the second level of goodness.
The third level of goodness is to be able to move others by paying back evil with goodness. When Saul tried to kill David, David let Saul live and said to him very humble words. So, Saul was moved and even shed tears.
In the fourth level of goodness, you are able to give your life even to those who are acting with evil toward you. It was the heart of Jesus. He was crucified without sin, and yet He still interceded for the sinners who were crucifying Him. Also, it was the heart of Moses and the apostle Paul who were willing to give up their lives to intercede for their people.
The depth and concentration of spiritual love are different to the extent that faith grows. As such a heart deepens, you can feel and realize the love of God more deeply. Only when you have at least second level of goodness can you protect the souls entrusted to you from the enemy devil and Satan, and increase their faith, too.
Second: the Breadth of Your Heart
What is the breadth of heart? You should check how many souls you can accept, embrace, and serve. Even though it is deep, if a vessel is very narrow, it can't hold much.
Some people love God and long for holiness, but their hearts are narrow. Then, their faith does not grow up much. For example, they are faithful in worship services, prayers, and other personal duties in the church, but they are not interested in caring for souls or whatever is not relevant to them directly. In such cases, it's difficult for them to realize or change themselves.
Some others diligently serve other souls that accept and follow them, but are very cold against those who are in disagreement with them.
If they have broad hearts they will accept not just those with whom they are compatible, but they can accept any kind of person. Suppose a worker does not want to do any hard work, but wants to do things that can draw attention to her. She even gossips about you. If you are not broad-hearted, you will suffer just by thinking about her. You'd implicitly hope that she wouldn't show up in meetings. You even want another worker to substitute her. If you are broad-hearted, however, you will only love any kind of workers. You will only remember their good points and try to unite everyone. You will try to find a way to serve even such people.
The vessel of one's heart can be broadened or deepened depending on his or her will. If you try to have goodness with the heart of spirit and think the same way, the heart will be broadened and deepened. To the extent, you will be able to embrace more souls and the measure of your faith will increase.
Third: the Degree of Practicing
Depending on what kinds of duties you perform and how you put the truth into action, the value of your faith will be different.
Suppose there are two cell leaders. One of them thought, "I'm not in spirit yet, but I want to expand God's kingdom with the best I can," and actually fulfilled her duty the best she could. As a result of diligently making visits and evangelism, there was revival and she became a sub-district leader. The other one, on the contrary, thought, "I lack the capabilities, so I'll take this duty again after I enter into spirit." Then, even though the depth and width of their hearts are the same now, their measures of faith will be different soon.
You would probably long for greater faith as you go on fulfilling your duties. It is because if you have duties, you'd have greater hope thinking like, "I want to help the members receive answers and blessings, and to do that, I need to have more power." If you have no specific duties, you can just look around you more and try your best to become strength to the kingdom of God.
As cell or small group members you can keep your positions and try to gather, and you can give testimonies, make visitations and spread the gospel, or do other voluntary services. Or like Anna, you can pray and fast for the kingdom of God with your heart.
If you become the light and salt to people around you and make your vessel deeper and broader, God will give you greater faith (Ephesians 3:18-19).
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