Build Yourselves Up
But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Pray in the Holy Spirit.
- Jude 1:20
My late father-in-law was a runner. He ran marathons when most men his age were looking for a place to sit and stay seated. Recently, I have a friend who completed his first marathon. That’s more than 26 miles in a single stretch. They both told me they enjoyed running, but there was no way they could have run that distance without a training schedule.
Regardless of how accomplished an athlete someone is, they can’t just get up one day and decide to run a marathon without any preparation. It takes months of training to build up the endurance to complete the course. If distance runners did not have the determination to build themselves up physically, they would fail and fall short of accomplishing their goal on the day of the race.
Jude’s letter commands us to build up our faith in a similar way. There are no short cuts! We have to start where we are and endeavor daily to immerse ourselves in the things of God - especially in our “most holy faith” - which was modeled to us by the apostles and the prophets in the Bible.
Any of life’s endeavors have similar requirements. You may want to become a teacher, a truck driver or a sales representative. Your desire might be to become a banker or a bricklayer, a lawyer or an electrician. You may dream of repairing sick bodies or broken automobiles. All of those are worthwhile goals. But you won’t acquire the ability to do those things just because you’ve set a goal. There are certain requirements involving study and practice that are necessary to become proficient at any life skill.
When it comes to our life of faith, the requirements are the same. Nobody becomes a giant of faith just because they become a Christian. Spiritual maturity and the ability to achieve significant goals will come only after you have faithfully pursued a program of study that builds not only upon your knowledge of the Bible, but also your knowledge of the Author.
Jude also tells us to pray in the Holy Spirit. This involves praying in that heavenly language that comes as a result of being filled with the Spirit, as the 120 were on the day of Pentecost. You can pray about issues that your mind doesn’t know how to address when you pray in the Spirit. According to Jude, you will also build up your spirit when you pray in the Holy Ghost. What this means is that you will have strength spiritually to do things that you were previously unable to do. Before, you may have been a spiritual couch potato, but if you will exercise yourself to faithfully pray in the Spirit, you can come to the point where you are running marathons in the spiritual realm. It won’t happen overnight, and it will require discipline to refuse distractions, but you can do great things by following the training regimen of praying in the Spirit.
Lord, as we begin a new day, help us to engage Your will with a reckless faith. Teach us to trust in You, and help us grow in righteousness. Heavenly Lord, give us the courage to step out in faith this day. Fill our hearts with Your Spirit, and let us speak Your words daily. Amen.
Further Reading
- Jude 1:20
- John 14:26
- Ecclesiastes 7:14
