“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) We’ve been looking at this verse this week, seeing how it has been pulled out of context and made to say things that it was never meant to say. We’ve seen that the verse originally was written to discuss how people come to have saving faith. We also saw that, in context, “hearing” can refer to hearing the testimony of God’s creation.

If that’s how faith begins, how does it grow and develop? Undoubtedly, one of the ways is through hearing the Word of God, be it through Bible reading or through the exposition of God’s Word. But must we limit faith development to that? Not according to the Bible. Here are some other ways in which faith grows:

• Through seeing God’s wonders. That’s a key theme in John’s gospel. (John 2:11, 23; 4:48; 7:31; 10:25, 38; 12:11, 37; 20:8, 27, 29)
• Through asking God for more faith. (Mark 9:24 Luke 17:5) The Bible teaches that faith is a gift of God. (Romans 12:3; 1 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Timothy 1:14)
• Through interaction with other Christians (Romans 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 3:10)
• Through acting on our faith (James 2:22)

Those are just a few ideas of how to develop faith, based on what the Bible says. Can you think of others?