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Proper Faith Is Active And Follows The Good God Reveals

Proper Faith Is Active And Follows The Good God Reveals

Last updated on: May 21, 2026 at 1:54 am by Henry Karlson

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Proper Faith Is Active And Follows The Good God Reveals 2026-05-21T01:54:46-05:00 Henry Karlson

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Christians are meant to live what they believe and not just treat their faith as some sort of thought exercise. Yes, we are to explore our beliefs, and our faith is supposed to be a faith seeking understanding, but to do that properly, we must engage those beliefs, proving them through our actions. For those of us who are more contemplative in nature, it is all too easy for us to get so caught up in the pursuit contemplation that our faith becomes a dead faith, a faith without deeds. We need to act, and when we do so, we will also find it helps is in understanding our faith, for it becomes more than a hypothetical, but a reality which we live. And likewise, our actions will help seed our contemplation, allowing it to produce the spiritual fruit we want.

We can explore our faith, explore the teachings and doctrines of the faith, in many different ways: sometimes by reading and scholarly research, sometimes by engaging thought experiments, but often through experience. If we only engage our faith in our thoughts, that is, treating it merely as a series of propositions and ideas, without engaging what we discover, our faith will be imperfect, and that imperfection will even allow bad thoughts or ideas to enter our minds and tempt us with various theological errors. Even if we try to resist them, because our focus is purely mental, we will they influence us more than we realize, sometimes consciously, but most often, unconsciously. And the more we struggle against them, the more we try to deny them, the more we find ourselves so caught up engaging the thought patterns they provoke that we become tainted by them and our faith journey comes to a screeching halt:

For if we consent to spend time with the thoughts of the enemy, then we would never have time to do anything good, which is precisely what the enemy is looking for. Indeed, when you notice that you are so congested by such thoughts, that they interfere with your psalmody, prayer, or reading, even though you do not struggle against them; for this is not something within your control. Rather, strive to invoke the name of God, and he will come to your assistance, abolishing the machinations of the enemies. For his is the power and the glory to the ages.[1]

The more we lean upon our faith, the more we should find ourselves leaning upon God and God’s grace, and not ourselves. We must not lean on our own understanding nor on our actions alone. But, more often than not, when we overly rely upon our own understanding, we will, once again, find ourselves stuck, as we will end up ignoring or outright rejecting anything which we do not yet understand. We must reach out to God, asking for help, whenever we our thoughts tempt us to believe or do some wrong. This is not to say that we should not do our part and struggle against temptation; obviously, we should, but we must do so in the proper fashion, knowing that there is a limit to what we can all by ourselves. The more we put our faith and trust in God, the more we realize we cannot do everything by ourselves, the easier we will find it will be for us to stop trying to do so. We can’t ascertain the fullness of the truth by ourselves. We can’t overcome all our bad thoughts, all our bad habits by ourselves. We need God (and those God sends to help up). We need to get outside of ourselves, and again, that is where faith comes into play. If we don’t, we will find ourselves struggling against our bad thoughts, and they will blind us so we will not see beyond them, as St. Mark the Ascetic understood: “A man who is carried away by his thoughts is blinded by them; and while he can see the actual working of sin, he cannot see its causes.” [2]

It is possible that we get so entrapped by our bad thoughts, and the sins they produce, we end up no longer discerning our good, the good which remains with us despite whatever bad we do. No one is completely and utterly evil, but if we are not careful, we can end up thinking we are, and once we do so, deny the grace God offers us because we think we are not worthy of it. This is one of the many deadly traps we must not fall for, because, if we do, we give in to the despair which cuts us off from the grace we need. We should not be worried about our worth; instead, we must rely upon God’s loving grace, which is why we must not become so scrupulous that we deny ourselves the spiritual medicine we need, that is, the eucharist (or other sacraments):

Therefore, do not prevent yourself from approaching the mysteries by judging yourself as being a sinner. Believe, rather, that a sinner who approaches the Savior is rendered worthy for the forgiveness of sins, in the manner in which we encounter in Scripture those approaching him with faith and hearing the divine voice: “Your many sins are forgiven.”[3]

The more we reach out to God in faith, the more we will cooperate with grace,the more we will see that grace healing us and helping us to become the person God intends us to be. We will reject the negativity that would hinder our proper spiritual growth. As we grow, as we reject that negativity and instead embrace grace, and the good which the grace perfects in us, we will find God comes to us with even more grace, giving us not just the strength to do the good we want to do, but the ability to apprehend and understand more and more our faith and the truth being taught by it. As we engage God, we can look back and see where we have been, but we must not let it become our focus; instead, we need to focus on the good ahead of us, the greater good which we should seek after, and so push on to attain it:

If sins are always on our trail, let us run so fast that they will never overtake us. There is, moreover, this difference between the pains of death and the perils of hell: the pains of death are evil thoughts; the perils of hell are evil deeds. To theorize is one thing, however; action – or practice – is another. In the latter, there is grief and anguish; in the former, there is danger and the proximity of death. [4]

Not only should look for and ponder that which is good, we should direct our thoughts and actions so as to realize that good. It is important that, as we do so, we see the good which is already within us. It will allow us to accept that there is something in us which God loves, and the grace which comes to us through that love. Similarly, we should see the good which is around us, the good in everything and everyone, accepting everything and everyone has their own good, a good which God can also make better with grace. We are to love that which is good, wherever the good is found. We should embrace it. When it is difficult for us to perceive it, that is where our faith comes into play; the more we reach out in faith, believing there is something good in all things, the more we will be open to it and eventually discover it. But if we doubt that good is there, we will not search for it, and so our focus will no longer be in the good which is found in all things; this is what leads us to look for and focus on the bad in all things, and when we do that, we become so attached to it that we become tainted by it. Therefore, let us have a faith seeking understanding, a faith seeking that which is good, a faith which is active and not passive, so that when we find the good, we can love it with the love which God intended it to have. In doing so, we will find ourselves embracing more and more of the good, and with it, more and more of God, because God is the source and foundation of every good.

[1] Barsanuphius and John, Letters. Volume 2. Trans. John Chryssavgis (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 2007), 54 [Letter 427].

[2] St. Mark the Ascetic, “On the Spiritual Law” in The Philokalia: The Complete Text. Volume One. Trans. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard and Kallistos Ware (London: Faber and Faber, 1979), 121.

[3] Barsanuphius and John, Letters. Volume 2, 79 [Letter 463; Response by John].

[4] St. Jerome, The Homilies of Saint Jerome: Volume I (1-59 On the Psalms). Trans. Marie Liguori Ewald, IHM (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 1963), 287 [Homily 39].

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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