How do you grow your faith?

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As a Christian, how do I grow my faith? You know that famous story when Jesus is walking on water, Peter walks on water, Peter sees the winds, the waves, falls into the water, and then yells, "Lord, save me." So, then Jesus immediately grabs him and says, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" First of all, with little faith, Peter was able to walk on water? When I first read this years ago, it led me on a journey to figure out how to grow my faith. And I found something that actually worked. First, have you ever Googled the word faith to see the definition? It says complete trust in something or someone. Can you think of the last person that broke your trust? What they did to do that? What about the person you trust the most? How did that happen? Because if we can figure that out, we can build our trust in God more, growing our faith. Thankfully, there's this guy named Stephen Covey that did this research and found that there are 13 things we all do that are always building up or destroying trust with one another. And I found that these translate perfectly to growing my trust, my faith in God. Number one, straight talk, which is simply telling the truth to God. Simple, right? Number two, demonstrate respect. We're taught to treat our parents and elders with respect. How much more should we respect God, the creator of all things? Number three, creating transparency with God. Am I not only saying the truth, saying it respectfully, but also being vulnerable about what I'm really feeling, what I'm actually thinking? Number four, right wrongs. Not only are we confessing that to God, but are we actually taking action to grow so it doesn't happen again? Number five, showing loyalty. In the King James version of the Bible, God says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Sometimes we can place our wants or addictions before God. So, practically, are we not just meeting him on Sunday at church, but bring him into our daily lives throughout the week? Number six, deliver results. Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says. When we're reading the Bible, do we actually put it into action? Number seven, get better. We're not always going to get it right. That's why Jesus died for us, but we want to take action to continue to get better and better. Number eight, confront reality. There will be times where the Holy Spirit will reveal something to us or speak through other people in our lives. Maybe it's sin or pattern we need to break free of. We We grow in our faith by confronting it to get better and live the life that God called us to live. Number nine, clarify expectations. This is bringing our expectations to God and laying them on the altar saying this is what I expect but I want your will over my own. Download God's expectations so I can live them out and the majority of them are found in here. Number 10, practice accountability. When we make a mistake, God this is the part that I played even if it wasn't technically our fault. God still wants to grow humility in us and there's always something that we can own to get better. Number 11, listen first. We can hear what God's saying by reading the Bible, his words, or my praying and hearing it from the Holy Spirit. It's so easy to say God I want this, this, this. Why aren't you moving faster? We also need to make time to listen to God and what he's trying to speak into our lives. Number 12, keep commitments. When we say God I'm going to do this, actually keeping that commitment. Doing it not only grows our character but grows our faith. And then finally number 13, extend trust. There are going to be a lot of times we don't know how God is going to do it and that's okay because his ways are not our ways. He's a much higher perspective than us, seeing a lot more than we can. And so we have to extend the trust to him believing that even if we can't see it, we can know he's working. I'm praying that God will use these today to help you grow your faith as you're still growing mine. God bless.