Fake It `til You Make It

For the past three years, God has really been defining faith for me. I grew up in church and heard many ideas on what faith is and what is should be. As God has defined it for me, I have become aware of the responsibility I have with my faith. The verse that really sparked the transformation of my ideas on faith was Hebrews 10:23.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm,
for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

There were two things that stood out to me in this verse.
One ~ We hold tightly without wavering
The words used for hold tightly also translates as to get possession of, and also to hold fast, to keep secure, and to keep possession of. The word for wavering can be interpreted as without moving, not inclining, firm, unmoved.
Two ~ We hold tightly to a hope we affirm
Hope can also be as to anticipate with pleasure. Affirm here is our profession, something we say, we declare.

As I looked at the words faith I learned that faith is an allegiance to duty or a person. It is a loyalty, a belief, a trust in God, a complete trust. As you look at the definition of faith you have to look at the definition of belief or to believe. Belief or to believe is to have a firm conviction about something, to accept it as truth.

So here's my theory after reading all of this. Belief must come before faith, however, faith cannot come without belief. I must believe in God to have faith in Him. I must believe what He says about me and what He promises me. My faith is the evidence of that belief. My faith is the proof of what my belief is. The integrity of my belief will be shown in my faith. Faith should be active and in agreement with what I claim to believe. If I believe God loves me, I should behave as though He does. It is behaving based on our belief, not believing to change our behavior. So in essence the idea of faking it until you make it isn't too far off. As I embraced this idea into my life I began to change my thought process. I had to make a choice, and I did. I choose to accept God's promises as truth and I will hold tightly to that until it is fulfilled. I will not move from that idea, I will not change my mind. Why, because I have faith that my God will come through with His promise. I know that even though it looks like I'm standing all alone, that God is standing with me. I believe that even though it looks like He's left me for dead in the desert, He will complete the good work He has started in me. H won't let me down. I have a thought that I go to when I start to have my faith questioned and you can use them if you like.

I am not believing to change my behavior.
I am behaving based on my belief in an all powerful awesome God.