Standing on Your Own Two Feet

1 Corinthians 2:5

"That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

"They need to learn to stand on their own two feet." This is what is said about those who seemingly cannot seem to do anything by themselves. It is a natural process for someone to go from total dependence to becoming a person who can make it on their own without the assistance of another. Just like a child goes from depending on their parents to total independence as an adult; likewise, a Christian needs to get to the point where they don't need a man to validate their faith.

One of the greatest problems with the church of Corinth was that they couldn't seem to stand on their own two feet. That is why you see them fighting about whether they were of Paul or Apollos. Certainly, it was natural as young Christians to need stronger Christians at which to look to keep standing, but at some point they needed to grow to the point where their faith could stand on its own two feet. There were four things they needed to make their faith stand on its own two feet.

First, they needed Scriptural preaching. Preaching that is simple, yet centered on the Word of God, builds Christians. Paul said in verse 1, that he declared "the testimony of God." He didn't talk about himself and what he had done, but he used his preaching to point them to Christ through the Word of God. You will never grow a strong faith without Scriptural preaching.

Second, they needed the Word of God to grow their faith. If the only time you get something from the Word of God is during the church services, then you are going to have a weak faith that needs man. God's Word grows your faith into a faith that stands on its own. You don't need "man's wisdom" to have a strong faith, but you need God's wisdom which is the Word of God to build a strong faith.

Third, they needed to pray to grow their faith. You will never know the mind of Christ without spending time with Him in prayer. The power mentioned throughout this chapter will only be realized through prayer. Stop looking to man to get help and go to God through prayer. Every time you get an answer to prayer, you will see your faith in God grow. You will never acquire a faith that stands on its own without prayer.

Fourth, they needed to judge to grow their faith. This is interesting because most don't see this as a part of spiritual growth, but it is. Paul said in verse 15, "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things..." In other words, your faith cannot grow without judging. A strong faith will judge what is right and wrong. It will judge with whom you should associate and with whom you should not associate. Having Scriptural discernment to judge keeps the Christian from going into sin or being associated with someone who will cause them to fall away from the truth.

The key to all of this is to keep your eyes on Christ. Friend, stop looking to man to validate your faith and keep your eyes on Christ. You will never have a faith that stands on its own two feet until you start doing these four things. These four things will force you to focus on Christ which will build a faith that can stand on its own two feet.