2 Thessalonians 1:3
“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;”
Paul said about his observance of this church’s faith, “…your faith groweth exceedingly…” He didn’t just say that their faith grew, but that it “groweth exceedingly.” This church was a church that wasn’t sufficed that its faith just grew, but they were interested in growing their faith in an exceptional manner.
Every Christian should desire for their faith to grow. You should never be satisfied with a faith that is stagnant, but you should desire that your faith grows and that it exceedingly grows. You should never be satisfied with a little growth, but you should only strive for your faith to abound in growth.
However, Paul said that their faith “groweth exceedingly.” In other words, their faith was still growing exceedingly as he wrote the letter. Many Christians have a faith that grew in the past, but it no longer is growing in the present. Christian, just because your faith greatly grew in the past is not good enough, God wants your faith to continue to grow. Your faith can never grow to the point that it cannot grow anymore. As long as you live, your faith always has room to grow and grow exceedingly. The question you must ask yourself is this; is your faith continuing to grow? Is your faith such that it is greater today than it was yesterday? Many times when someone is a young Christian, their faith grows exceedingly because they don’t know any better than to trust God for everything. Sadly, many Christians tend to get to the point where their faith’s growth is stunted because they think too much about what they need to do before stepping out instead of just trusting God. My friend, don’t allow your faith to become a stagnant faith that stops growing because you stop stepping out on what God tells you to do.
The question must then be asked, how does our faith continue to grow exceedingly? Verse 4 shows us how it grows when it says, “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:” Notice, their faith grew through enduring “persecutions and tribulations.” As much as they didn’t like the hardships that they were enduring, that is what caused their faith to continue to grow exceedingly.
The only reason a Christian’s faith stops growing is because they quit when hard times come. The hardships of life are what cause your faith to grow. These hardships you face are what cause you to have to depend on God, and the more you have to depend on Him the more your faith will grow. You will never grow as long as you can depend on your own strength and wisdom. Faith grows when a Christian realizes their helplessness and God’s omnipotence. You are just going to have to trust that God has the power to help you through whatever hardships you face, and that dependence will grow your faith.
Friend, is your faith growing, or has it stopped a long time ago? Always remember that trials and persecutions are an opportunity to grow. Your growth depends on whether you will trust God or quit. If you choose to trust God in these times, you will continue to have a faith that “groweth exceedingly.”