Many of us want to lead a healthy lifestyle. In fact, a lot of vloggers have made it their advocacy to help us achieve good health with their fitness videos, nutrition advice, and well-being tips. I appreciate watching videos that show me a great 15-minute workout routine, a healthier recipe of a favorite dish, or a helpful talk about processing thoughts and emotions. 

But there is one crucial thing that those videos can’t do for me: to actually apply them in my life. I have to be the one to actually do those exercise routines. I have to be the one to buy the right ingredients and eliminate junk food from my diet. I have to be the one to take time to process thoughts and feelings. No amount of watching fitness, nutrition, and well-being videos can actually make me healthier. I have to do my part.

When it comes to our spiritual health, it’s no different. We can watch tons of good preachings, read a plethora of Christian books, and subscribe to a lot of podcasts with great sermons, but what does it take for our faith to be strengthened? We have to do our part.

Here are three areas we need for our faith to be strengthened in order to move forward to a healthier spiritual life.

The Lordship of Jesus Christ

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Hebrews 12:1–2 (NLT)

In pursuing physical health, what we eat matters most. No matter the amount of exercise we do, if we don’t eat right, our internal organs and overall fitness will not be healthy. It’s the same with our spiritual health. 

Are you consuming a balanced diet, or are you eating mostly junk food? Do you live on every word from the mouth of God or do you simply snack on tidbits from your favorite preacher or influencer? Do you draw strength from the Living Water, who quenches your thirst, or do you draw on your own strength? 

The author of Hebrews says that we can only endure the life of faith God has called us into by keeping our eyes on Jesus Christ. Hence, it’s a good question to ask ourselves if what we are consuming helps us to fix our eyes on Jesus or distracts us from what truly matters.

It’s true that we need to hear the preaching of the word, to read what the Bible says, and to listen to the Holy Spirit in prayer in order to strengthen our faith. But just like in pursuing fitness, if we don’t actually exercise what we’ve learned, our faith muscles will not grow stronger. 

That’s why our faith can’t grow stronger without obedience to God. And we find that in obeying God, it is usually a call to love Him above everything and everyone else, and to love others just as He loves us. This is why church community and kingdom work is crucial to our spiritual health.  

The Church Community

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24–25 (NLT)

Why is it important to be part of a church community if we want to grow stronger in our faith? Because this is where we get to hear the preaching of the word. It’s also where we find people who we can share life with—people who will journey with us through the ups and downs of life. But most of all, church community is a place where we can encourage and motivate each other to acts of love and good works in obedience to God’s word. 

It’s easier to stick to an exercise routine when there is a group of people we do it with who motivates us to persevere and endure. It’s the same way with our church community. There we find people who can be strong for us when we are weak, who can demonstrate what it means to love unconditionally, and whose lives are a testimony of God’s love and faithfulness.

If you are finding it hard to persevere in this life of faith because you don’t have a church community yet, connect with us! Let’s grow together! 

The Work of the Kingdom

Nothing grows our faith more than witnessing a life transformed that affects a person’s family and community. 

When we’ve witnessed someone who was harassed and helpless—someone broken and lost, moving through life without a purpose or desperately trying to prove their existence matters—suddenly become secure, confident, and purposeful because of their encounter with Christ, it strengthens our own conviction that Who we believe in is real. God is at work, and He has a plan and purpose for each of us. (Yes! That includes you!)

When we’ve touched the life of someone by believing with them for healing or provision and we see God come through for them, it strengthens our faith that He can and is willing to move powerfully through us so that people will know Him.

If you’re weakening in your faith, check these areas of your life and keep exercising your faith muscles. When you do, brace yourself for an encounter with God that will certainly raise your level of faith.