Borrowed Faith
Borrowed Faith
By Kevin Benejam
What do you do when you are lacking faith in a season or don’t have the faith you once had. Or maybe you’re reading this and you’re just starting out in your faith journey.
You have to Borrow Faith.
When we borrow money from the bank or buy a house with a mortgage we still act as if it was ours! So why can’t we borrow faith from others who have strong faith when we don’t have it at the time? And fun fact when you borrow faith from others, there is no interest.
You borrow it from other believers and leaders that have the faith you want.
Borrowing faith means you ACT as if you already have the faith and then the faith will activate.
It’s scientifically proven when you think a certain way you will act a certain way and when you act a certain way you will think a certain way. Your physical informs your mental and your mental informs your physical. It is a 2-way relationship. Being in fashion, I tell people if you want to feel good you have to look good. Now I’m not saying just because you look good all your problems will be solved but when you dress the part you will actually be the part. Have you ever experienced when you dress up for Halloween that you definitely feel like that character you are dressed like? This is why we have to dress how we want to feel and be. When I started in Real Estate I said I want to be a top real estate agent so I am going to dress like one. When I dressed like one, I felt like one. This is why in 1 Peter 5:5 it says clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another or in Colossians 3:12 it says “put on compassionate hearts” or in Galatians 3:27 it says “put on Christ”, In Romans 13:13 -14 Put on Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 4:24 “ and to put on the new self”. WHAT ARE YOU PUTTING ON? WHAT ARE YOU BORROWING? If I am borrowing something I want to borrow the good stuff.
I remember when I re-committed my life to Christ and I was honestly like man, why do all these people in the Church raise their hand during worship? I mean is it because they really believe? Or is it because they want to be like everyone else to show off in public that they actually believe? Well, I remember there was this one sermon that definitely was a catalyst of increasing my faith to higher grounds. It was called “How Far Do You Want To Go With This” and it convicted me to make a decision on how do I actually want to go with this whole Jesus thing? Am I coming to church just to get a blessing or be a blessing? Am I coming to church to be served or to actually serve? How are my actions outside of church? Are they aligned with God? I told myself, I know I can’t do this alone and I haven’t really walked out this path with 100% righteousness before so I will have to borrow my pastor’s faith and actions. I will look at the energy he has for God and act like that. We all have to start somewhere.
As an artist, I have realized that all beginning artists borrow and copy styles at the beginning of their career until they start finding their own path and way. And if you are just starting out or if you walked with God for a while there will always be an evolution of your faith and self. This is why it’s OK to borrow someone’s faith and use it as a booster until you go into a different hemisphere of faith and belief. This is why on the rocket ship, the booster helps the rocket ship reach a certain altitude until the rocket can go to space all on its own. This is how we should use others people’s faith, belief, and testimonies. I remember reading this book when I was just starting out in a new retail company when I was about 19 years old and I had an issue with confidence. So I read this book called the “Magic of Thinking Big” and the one line that changed my life said “to think confident ACT confident” I was like “WOW. OK so that is what I am going to do” and that is what I did. I studied many confident people on YouTube of how they walked, talked, and even dressed, like Obama, George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, and many others. I acted like them, I borrowed what they had in order to get the outcome I was looking for. But fast forward to 7 years later I realized I had to act like Jesus for true transformation. Eventually when you act you will eventually become. Eventually, when you act a certain way, you will eventually become it, because it has become a habit. This is why the Bible talks a lot about Acts hence there is even a book called Acts. Jesus teaches us to act in love. Because there are going to be many times when we don’t feel like acting in love but as followers of Christ that is our duty. We have to act as we love them even if we don’t feel like it at the time. We can’t go based on our flesh, because if we did we would ruin many relationships.
I don’t know about you but I want to be a black belt in following Jesus and faith. Yes, there will be times when we won’t feel like reading the bible, praying, or worshiping but it takes DISCIPLINE and DEDICATION to be a disciple. That’s why Jesus said the “harvest is plentiful but laborers are few”. You gotta want it, straight up. I’m just going to tell it like it is, many times you gotta do what you don’t want to do in order to get the outcome you want or actually need. Many times people don’t want to be healthy but they NEED it, many times people don’t want to be close to Jesus but they NEED it. Many of the best worship, bible readings, or workouts I have ever had were the ones that I really didn’t feel like doing. But like the Newton Law of Physics, an object in motion stays in motion. We have to get momentum on our side. Just get on the mat, write one sentence, read one chapter and you will actually want to do more I promise you. It’s like what Mike Tyson said: “discipline is doing what you hate to do but doing it like you love it”. This is so true! Sounds like acting first then being. If the thing is beneficial for us, we have to act like we love it and eventually we will. I remember when I first started working out, I wasn’t really excited about it but once I experienced the results and what it can do for my body, mind, soul, confidence, and life in general I was like, this action has too many benefits to not do it or hate it. And to me that is what the bible, eating healthy, acting like Jesus, working out and many other positive habits I have developed has done for me. There are too many benefits to hate it or not do it.
And there are too many benefits to not act like Jesus
Act like Jesus and borrow the faith.
“In your lives, you must think and ACT like Christ Jesus”
Philippians 2:5