I think we'd all agree that the most important and most basic question for a follower of Jesus is: What is faith?

Faith is trusting that God—that Jesus—is who he says he is, and he will do for you what he has promised to do. And when you enter into a relationship with God through faith in Christ, you grow in that same faith becomes the lens through which you view all of life. The story of the Roman centurion’s servant in Matthew 8:5-13 illustrates the nature of biblical faith.

Read Matthew 8:5-13

Here are five important takeaways from this reading concerning faith.

• It’s possible to grow into a life-transforming kind of faith.
• A faith-based relationship is what God has always wanted—not simply obedience. When there is trust, obedience follows.
• The story of Jesus and the centurion in Matthew 8:5-13 illustrates the kind of confidence in Jesus that honors God and astonishes Jesus.
• Your faith—your confidence in God—is the lens through which you view and interpret all of life. It determines how you make sense of the trials of life. It determines IF you will move through those trials with a growing confidence in God or not.
• Nothing honors God and protects you more than a growing confidence in God.