Simply Angie How Precious is Your Faith... Really?It’s easy to say our faith is precious—but our daily lives reveal what we truly value.
I was reading through the first chapter of 2 Peter this week, and the very first verse made me pause. Peter describes our faith in a very specific and deliberate way. He addresses his letter:
This opening line made me stop for several reasons. For a start, I believe this may have been the first time I focused on the context of the word ‘like’ in his greeting. It felt as though Peter was saying, “Angie, I’m writing this to you because your faith is just like mine.” The second word that caught my attention was ‘precious.’ What a wonderful and accurate description of the gift of faith that we have been given. I stopped to really examine myself. In the busyness of the school week, the trials of health, and the noise of the news, do I treat my faith like a precious treasure, or have I started treating it like an old shoe that is just getting me where I need to go? Faith Like PeterThe word Peter uses for “like precious” (isotimos) literally means equally privileged or of the same value. Think about that for a moment. This isn’t just “precious” in a sentimental way. Peter - the man who walked on the water, who saw Jesus transfigured on the mount, who was there at Pentecost - is saying that the faith we have today is just as valuable as his. Your faith, and my faith, has the same spiritual DNA, the same access to the same righteousness, and the same power as the faith that turned the world upside down in the Book of Acts. I found that idea really worth meditating on for a bit. Defined by Behavior: What Do You Value?We all know what “precious” means conceptually. We say our health is precious, or our time is precious. But the Bible defines “precious” by how we handle the object. What we hold as precious, we value.
Jesus gave us the beautiful word picture illustrating the value of our faith in Matthew 13:45-46. He spoke of a merchant seeking “goodly pearls,” who, “...when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” That pearl wasn’t just valuable; it was worth everything. The Danger of the “Common” FaithWe tend to value things that are scarce or only obtained through great personal sacrifice. But God’s grace is abundant and freely given to all who believe on the Savior. Sometimes it seems we allow that abundance to tempt us into treating our faith as something “common” or a means to get us where we want to go (heaven). We treat it like a spare tire—something we only pull out of the trunk when we have a spiritual blowout. If we see our faith as just an emergency eternal life raft, rather than the source of life itself, we won’t be careful with it. We will treat it carelessly, and eventually, a faith that is treated as common will become a faith that loses its earthly power and is sometimes even forgotten. We sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that because our faith is “free,” it was “cheap.” We treat it like a common thing because it didn’t cost us anything to receive it. But the value of a gift isn’t determined solely by its intrinsic value; it’s also determined by what it cost the Giver. The reason our faith is “precious” isn’t just because of the Heaven it promises us or the peace it gives us today. It is precious because of the blood that bought it. When we are tempted to treat our faith like an “old shoe” or an “emergency spare tire,” we need to look back at the Cross.
Jesus didn’t just offer us a “get out of jail free” card; He offered us His life. He left the glory of Heaven, endured the mockery of men, and bore the weight of our sin so that we could be called “children of God.” Our faith is a blood-bought treasure. When we remember the cost of the pearl, it becomes impossible to treat it as common. Doing The MathOnce Peter gave his unique salutation that echoed down through the ages directly to me (and you), he continued with a blessing or wish for us that went along with it:
I can’t speak for you, but there have been so many times in my life where I absolutely had to have God’s grace and peace to get me through a trying moment, a difficult day, an uncomfortable confrontation, a challenging circumstance, an unbearable situation. I’m a ‘math girl’ and love the concept of multiplication. I particularly love it when it comes in the form of multiplied grace and peace. But, just like mathematics, there’s a formula to follow. Peter reminded us of the formula: Knowledge of God + Knowledge of Jesus = Grace x Peace While Peter was writing that he desired his readers to have an abundance of grace and peace, he knew it doesn’t come without diligence and effort on our part. Diligence is the Proof of ValueI often tell the children I teach that there is nothing in this world that I would trade for my faith in Jesus and the treasure of being God’s child. If someone offered me all the money in the world, I’d turn them down because there is no comparison. I really mean that in my heart, but I was still challenged this week to look at my life and see if my actions and my priorities were evidence of that or if they were telling a different story. Am I recognizing the value of my faith and treating it like the precious treasure that it really is? I believe Peter started this letter with the value of the seed, because he knows he is about to call us to work in the orchard. Over the next couple of weeks, I want us to look at the rest of this chapter, where he describes our access to “divine power” and where he tells us to “give all diligence” to add specific qualities to our faith. We cannot be diligent to protect and grow something that we do not consider precious. The world is dark, and deception is everywhere, and if we want our testimony to shine, we must first remember exactly how much the seed we were given is worth. Unworthy but grateful, P.S. As you navigate the busyness of this week, take just one moment each morning to thank the Lord that He entrusted you with a faith that is “much more precious than of gold that perisheth” (1 Peter 1:7). Reminding ourselves of its worth is the first step to protecting it! Talk to you again soon. Can’t wait?
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