{"id":735,"date":"2024-01-14T00:30:19","date_gmt":"2024-01-14T05:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/?p=735"},"modified":"2024-08-13T15:58:24","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T19:58:24","slug":"faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A beautiful view, and a inspirational coffee mug too,\u2026 what a great way to start the day! ~ Photo courtesy of the Author.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers<\/span><\/span>, but this can be a hard concept to grasp! After reading mentions of this topic, it got my mind stirring about this particular part of the Christian faith. Without a doubt, it is very important that we believe that we are accepted because of our faith in Jesus ~\u00a0 and not because of our good works. While I love this fact, I must also admit that it seems contrary to how my thoughts tend to lead me.\u00a0My humanity has me feeling like I need to earn things from God, such as His favor, His love, or His acceptance.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span>Even though I know this is not true, I find myself struggling with it at times<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many times when guilt rushes in as I think I have not done enough, or spent enough time with God. The lines get blurry with feelings that shift from \u201cI want to spend time reading, studying and writing\u201d versus the feeling that \u201cI have to spend time reading, studying and writing.\u201d Admittedly, the \u201cwanting to\u201d times, always results in better things!<\/p>\n

We Need the Faith that Moves Mountains<\/span><\/h2>\n No matter where we are in our journey, faith is the key to unlocking God\u2019s divine power in our lives. Nothing is impossible for God, and He doesn\u2019t even need our help, unbeknownst to us at times, right? Trusting that He can do what He says He will do, and believing in His timing to actually do it, is where we grow our faith exponentially.<\/p>\n Jesus says it this way:\u00a0 \u201cHe replied, \u201cBecause you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, \u2018Move from here to there,\u2019 and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.\u201d Matthew 17:20 (NIV)\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s pray that God will help us strengthen our faith, while knowing that He has our future in His hands.<\/div>\n ___________________________________________________________________________________<\/div>\nFaith Seems to be the Recurring Word for 2024<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n**** The subject of faith is every where I turn:\u00a0 from coffee mugs, to Bible devotions, and scriptures that I read. That confirms to me that it is important and meant to be shared! In my last post, \u201cLet your Faith Be Taller Than your Fears ~ Let God Be God,\u201d<\/a> I shared scriptures that serve as reminders of the importance of trusting God in all things. In addition to that, comes this inspiration for us to believe that \u201cFaith Can Move Mountains!\u201d Consequently, that leads me to ask, \u201cWhat are you trusting God for today?\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve said it many times before, but I\u2019ll say it again\u2026 \u201cI love things like coffee mugs, journals, and decor that inspire me with scriptures or quotes. The ability to see those types of things around my home can really get my mind churning with ideas. This may not be the most scholarly way to share the Gospel, but it resonates with me, and I hope that it does for you too!\u201d (Hence, the photos with this column!)<\/div>\n***** ** ** Decor can be very inspirational! ~ Have faith in Jesus! Photo courtesy of the Author.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n ** <\/div>\n ** Faith Requires the Ability to Think Differently<\/span><\/h2>\n ** My tendency is to feel like I must achieve things in order to earn things, which is totally opposite of faith. Human experiences with relationships typically requires us to do specific things to earn acceptance or love from others. This doesn\u2019t mean people are out there handing out lists of things one must do, but most often, those things are part of the equation somehow.<\/p>\n ** It might be better described as an \u201cUnspoken Knowing\u201d that there are expectations of performance or achievements required in order for a specific person to accept, or love the other. (Honestly, I believe it is human nature.)\u00a0 God\u2019s love and acceptance is distinctly different! ~ THANKFULLY, I Must Say! He loves us unconditionally and only requires our faith in Jesus for us to be accepted by Him. That\u2019s Absolutely Amazing if you take time to let it sink in!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ** Jesus is the Achiever<\/span><\/h2>\n ** \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Jesus paid the price for it all: Every mistake \u2013 Every Short Coming \u2013 Every Bad Decision\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n ** \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0It is not our achievements that God sees when He looks at us \u2013 He sees Jesus and all that He has done instead.<\/p>\n ** \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 God sees us as perfect through the lens of Jesus \u2013 (No matter what we may think of ourselves)<\/p>\n ** Jesus achieved more than we will ever know:<\/div>\n ** Jesus is more than enough \u2013 He redeems our Past \u2013 and He makes way for our Future!<\/div>\n ** Jesus is our Savior & Friend,<\/div>\n ** Jesus is our Comforter & Peace,<\/div>\n ** Jesus is our Strength,<\/div>\n ** Jesus is our Healer,<\/div>\n ** Jesus lifts the loads that are too\u00a0heavy to carry,<\/div>\n ** Jesus makes all things possible,<\/div>\n ** Jesus helps us achieve the dreams in our hearts,<\/div>\n ** Jesus is our Hope ~<\/div>\n ** There is No Other that fills His Shoes!<\/div>\n ** Just a Personal Note to Jesus:\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n ** Jesus, I love you,<\/span><\/h4>\n ** I Believe in you,<\/span><\/h4>\n ** I Trust you,<\/span><\/h4>\n ** I\u2019m Thankful for you,<\/span><\/h4>\n ** I\u2019m Blessed By you,<\/span><\/h4>\n ** I need you Jesus,<\/span><\/h4>\n ** I Praise You Jesus, Now & Forevermore!<\/span><\/h4>\n ** Love,\u00a0<\/span> ** Teresa<\/span><\/h4>\n ** <\/div>\n ** <\/div>\n ** \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ** *****Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers, but this can be a hard concept to grasp! After reading mentions of this topic, it got my mind stirring about this particular part of the Christian faith. Without a doubt, it is very important that we believe that we are accepted because of our faith […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5384,"featured_media":738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,95,74,147,98],"tags":[20,56,104,116,156,101],"class_list":["post-735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-jesus","category-scriptures","category-trusting-god","category-unconditional-love","tag-faith","tag-jesus","tag-salvation","tag-scripture","tag-trusting-god","tag-unconditional-love"],"yoast_head":"\nFaith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is very important that we believe that we are accepted by God because of our faith in Jesus ~ not because of our good works.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is very important that we believe that we are accepted by God because of our faith in Jesus ~ not because of our good works.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uniquely Constructed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/teresa.h.nichols?mibextid=9R9pXO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-14T05:30:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-13T19:58:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/2102\/2024\/01\/Faith-Can-Move-Mountains780.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"781\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Teresa Nichols\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Teresa Nichols\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-14T05:30:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-13T19:58:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/#\/schema\/person\/ed1aeb95358f677af21400163ec42bdd\"},\"description\":\"It is very important that we believe that we are accepted by God because of our faith in Jesus ~ not because of our good works.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/\",\"name\":\"Uniquely Constructed\",\"description\":\"Uniquely Constructed encompasses trusting God through life's many twists and turns: Faith, Family, Homeschooling, Businesswoman, she covers it all.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/#\/schema\/person\/ed1aeb95358f677af21400163ec42bdd\",\"name\":\"Teresa Nichols\",\"description\":\"Teresa has been a Christian nearly her whole life. She has a unique view on trusting God with decisions surrounding branching out into owning her own businesses, raising her children while homeschooling them, praying for lost loved ones, having a father and best friend who lost their battles with cancer, overcoming divorce at a young age, losing faith and finding it again. For years Teresa has spent hours each week journaling her thoughts on these topics but now she is stepping out in faith once again, following God's calling on her life, and bringing her thoughts to you here through Uniquely Constructed. Owning a construction company with her husband, she has felt called to explore how God has constructed her life, and how each life He has created is unique from the next. This is her story, her experience, her perspective, her prayers, her devotions, her faith. her family, and her life. She hopes that you will find her words encouraging and that she can show you proof of God's faithfulness through the trials and tribulations she has experienced.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/teresa.h.nichols?mibextid=9R9pXO\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/uniquelyconstructed67?igshid=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg==\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/author\/tnichols\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers","description":"It is very important that we believe that we are accepted by God because of our faith in Jesus ~ not because of our good works.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers","og_description":"It is very important that we believe that we are accepted by God because of our faith in Jesus ~ not because of our good works.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/","og_site_name":"Uniquely Constructed","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/teresa.h.nichols?mibextid=9R9pXO","article_published_time":"2024-01-14T05:30:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-13T19:58:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":780,"height":781,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/2102\/2024\/01\/Faith-Can-Move-Mountains780.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Teresa Nichols","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Teresa Nichols","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/","name":"Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-01-14T05:30:19+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-13T19:58:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/#\/schema\/person\/ed1aeb95358f677af21400163ec42bdd"},"description":"It is very important that we believe that we are accepted by God because of our faith in Jesus ~ not because of our good works.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/2024\/01\/faith-requires-belief-jesus-trust-scripture-unconditional-love-acceptance-salvation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Faith Requires Us to be Believers ~ Not Achievers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/","name":"Uniquely Constructed","description":"Uniquely Constructed encompasses trusting God through life's many twists and turns: Faith, Family, Homeschooling, Businesswoman, she covers it all.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/#\/schema\/person\/ed1aeb95358f677af21400163ec42bdd","name":"Teresa Nichols","description":"Teresa has been a Christian nearly her whole life. She has a unique view on trusting God with decisions surrounding branching out into owning her own businesses, raising her children while homeschooling them, praying for lost loved ones, having a father and best friend who lost their battles with cancer, overcoming divorce at a young age, losing faith and finding it again. For years Teresa has spent hours each week journaling her thoughts on these topics but now she is stepping out in faith once again, following God's calling on her life, and bringing her thoughts to you here through Uniquely Constructed. Owning a construction company with her husband, she has felt called to explore how God has constructed her life, and how each life He has created is unique from the next. This is her story, her experience, her perspective, her prayers, her devotions, her faith. her family, and her life. She hopes that you will find her words encouraging and that she can show you proof of God's faithfulness through the trials and tribulations she has experienced.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/teresa.h.nichols?mibextid=9R9pXO","https:\/\/instagram.com\/uniquelyconstructed67?igshid=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg=="],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/author\/tnichols\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uniquelyconstructed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}