6 Attributes of Living by Faith

Would you characterize your life as one lived by faith? I believe there are six attributes of a person who lives by faith.

Attribute #1: Live by the Word

Do you believe perception is reality? Perception is not always reality. You might perceive that a product you buy will do what it says it claims to do, only to discover it falls short. Sometimes we perceive things about God based on our experience versus what the Bible really says. The apostle Paul exhorts us to live by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (NKJV).

God told Joshua to walk around the city seven times by faith, not by his logic or reasoning. He had to live by the word from God, not his perception of how illogical the command might have been for him and his troops. The Bible talks about obedience being better than sacrifice. So, live in the Word and obey His Word, no matter what the perception is that says it might not be logical.

Attribute #2: Count Things as Though They Have Already Happened

The Bible tells us that faith is living as though the goal has already been achieved:

“As it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations’ in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Rom. 4:17).

We believe in the covenant promises of God in the Spirit dimension—awaiting the manifestation in the physical. We must claim His promises for our situations. Once we know it is God’s will, we pray in the authority He has given each believer in Jesus Christ. We don’t have faith in faith; we have faith in God and His promises.

Attribute #3: Obey God in the Small Things

God always entrusts you with a small thing before He entrusts you with a larger thing. Abraham was told simply to go without knowing where he was going. He had to trust God with the outcome of that decision:

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb 11:8).

I was once invited to speak to less than 10 people in Barbados. I wrestled with God over the logic of that invitation and the meeting. Once I obeyed, God opened many new and greater opportunities as a result of that obedience.

Attribute #4: Think Right

 Sometimes we suffer from bad thinking. We mix the world’s value system in with God’s. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). Negative thinking produces negative outcomes.

Fear can drive us to negative outcomes in life. It is a form of negative faith: “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me,
 and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
 I have no rest, for trouble comes” (Job 3:25-26).

If you are trying to kick a bad habit, don’t try to avoid the bad habit. Think on what kind of behavior you want to have that will replace the bad habit. Think about filling the cup up; don’t focus on what is not in the cup:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Phil. 4:8).

Attribute #5: There Is Power in the Tongue  

God created the world by speaking it into existence. Gen 1:1-9 says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so” (KJV, emphasis added).

We learn in Hebrews 11:3 that “by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (NKJV).

Can you see that God spoke things into existence—that there is power in our words?

Proverbs 18:21 tell us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
 and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Your audible words do carry power. God spoke the world into existence. Jesus spoke to the fig tree.

Jesus tells us to speak to the mountain: “So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them'” (Mark 11:22-24).

One time God spoke to me on a Saturday morning a few months after I published a book. We had very limited sales. The words that came to me as I woke were, “Speak to your mountain of books!”

I went downstairs and laid my hands on my mountain of books and said, “In the name of Jesus, get out of my basement! Go be a blessing to someone who needs to read these books.” That Saturday afternoon a ministry in Dallas, Texas, called me and ordered 300 books! I had no prior relationship with the group and it was a Saturday!

Attribute #6: Claim Covenant Promises—Use the Keys You Have Been Given

 “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19).

There are 7,500 covenant promises in the Bible that represent the currency of your faith. A covenant promise reveals what you know is God’s will, but you must pray it into existence. God’s covenant promises are His currency for manifesting His will upon the earth. God has given us the power of attorney spiritually on the earth to bring heaven on earth in the area of our calling.

 Os Hillman is president of Marketplace Leaders and author of Change Agent and TGIF Today God Is First at www.todaygodisfirst.com, a free email daily devotional.