What Is Faith?

Posted on March 15, 2026 by mitchteemley
What is Faith

What Is Faith?

Once, all of the villagers decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer all the people gathered, but only one little boy came with an umbrella. That is faith.*

One of the least understood teachings of the Bible is the relationship of faith versus works (good deeds). Yes, faith is trusting God for his free gift of salvation (we truly can’t save ourselves). But faith without deeds is simply not real faith. Or at best it’s an infantile faith. Which is fine at first. But we’re not meant to stay infants. God is in the business of making disciples, not toddlers. We’re called to become mature followers who walk by faith, and in the process, show a desperate world how it’s done. So, want to live a life of faith?

Bring your umbrella!

*Story source unknown

About mitchteemley

Writer, Filmmaker, Humorist, Thinker-about-stuffer
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33 Responses to What Is Faith?

  1. pastorgoforth says:
    March 15, 2026 at 10:48 am

    yes evidentiary action

    Reply
  2. firewater65 says:
    March 15, 2026 at 10:49 am

    I admit that my faith is sometimes shaky, at best, and is ill-defined at worst. I do like the umbrella metaphor, however.

    Reply
  3. Liz Gauffreau says:
    March 15, 2026 at 10:52 am

    I love the little boy with the umbrella!

    Reply
  4. Exploring Alura says:
    March 15, 2026 at 10:52 am

    Finding
    Authentic
    Intuition
    Teaching
    Honesty

    Our connection to the Divine is individual. It is my belief that God asks each of us to walk in faith, in alignment, and with our unique Divine connections. Honest living, not just good deeds, is living a Godly-life.

    We don’t have to be God to be a loving reflection of the God we hold most dear. If every moment is a choice to be made, how many moments are we, as a people, choosing to be Godly in our choices? How many of us are holding up faith that God is beautiful and as a piece of God’s Kingdom, we should embody God’s beauty in ourselves?

    Christ was beautiful and look how history remembers such beauty.

    I think we do Christ a great favor when we take him from the Cross and carry our own Divinity in a way that shines love, acceptance, kindness, and peace into the world we share. Christ may have died for our sins, that just means it’s well past time to stop being sinful.

    Every moment is a choice and if we are choosing to be our best selves, knowing even our best has the potential to hurt others, then we are choosing to live in Christhood and Godhood, and part of the Holy Spirit of the Trinity that is alive in each of us.

    US to me means:

    United
    Spirits

    I love where your essay has brought my mind, back home to the unity we all share. Thank you for your wonderful thoughts on bringing back Faith to Focus on, instead of distracting ourselves with labels and titles and rewards of good deeds that on paper look great, but in the spiritual realm are little more than transactional choices only made something comes from it. As you mentioned, an infantile approach to spirituality and Divine connections.

    I love that you reference to grow in our faith and how we approach it. I think of Faith like a mustard seed planted deep within ourselves. God is the light that will nurture the growth needed in that seed’s potential, but we, are the receiver of light and thus determine how many nutrients are present and supporting that growth and development.

    It is easy to rest thinking the self good enough, but what is good enough when there is more good to be done. Christ didn’t preach to stop when you’ve been a good person long enough, Christ went to His Cross ready to give His dying breath for the faith He had in better being possible. I feel the same is asked of us.

    If our faith has us thinking we’ve done enough, how faithful are we in a world of so many needing help?

    Reply
  5. atimetoshare.me says:
    March 15, 2026 at 10:56 am

    I love that. Our faith should be like that of the little boy, but our mature faith brings about results of that childlike faith.

    Reply
  6. trE says:
    March 15, 2026 at 11:18 am

    “Bring your umbrella”, indeed! 🙌🏾🙏🏾👏🏾

    Reply
  7. WritingfromtheheartwithBrian says:
    March 15, 2026 at 11:54 am

    One time a Sunday school teacher had my class act out the Easter story. Of course, I got Thomas’ role. Thanks to that, I’ve always wondered about faith. Why does one person naturally believe? Why does another need to “see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side.” You throw in the added question about works. Oh my, you have my head spinning now. Ha, ha. I can’t think about works without thinking about my mother lecturing my brothers and me as kids that others should know we’re good kids walking a mile away. Yea, yea, she talked about obedience to God’s teachings and showing our love for others too . . . but we also knew that she was darn-well going to make us behave if we didn’t. Ha, ha. Thought-provoking post Mitch. Happy Sunday.

    Reply
  8. Norman E Peterson says:
    March 15, 2026 at 12:53 pm

    Faith, it’s through Grace the very gift of God. Ephesians 3

    Reply
  9. RasmaSandra says:
    March 15, 2026 at 1:32 pm

    Once you have faith, you must uphold your belief. I went to Latvian school on Saturdays, and we had religion as a subject, and then I went for the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades to the Lutheran Elementary School and had my own Bible. I discovered that I enjoyed this look into faith and loved the songs we sang at church. Today I am still best friends with the Lord and have a morning prayer to start my day and the Lord’s Prayer to end the day.

    Reply
  10. Renate says:
    March 15, 2026 at 2:52 pm

    I love God, therefore I am of service to others…

    Reply
  11. chanél ~ the soul alchemist says:
    March 15, 2026 at 5:07 pm

    Grace is the bridge between faith and surrender.

    Reply
  12. Andrew McDowell says:
    March 15, 2026 at 5:25 pm

    Deeds without faith are just as bad, I think.

    Reply
  13. Chris says:
    March 15, 2026 at 7:47 pm

    For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

    Reply
  14. Anonymous says:
    March 15, 2026 at 8:49 pm

    I love the umbrella metaphor, Mitch. Though God wants us to grow beyond toddlerhood, I find that children often have tenacious faith. I think that’s why I chose to be a teacher. Kids often remind me of the importance of kindness, courage, empathy and faith.

    Reply
  15. My Life in Our Father's World says:
    March 16, 2026 at 4:41 am

    Oh the faith of a child ❤️

    Reply
  16. Maren says:
    March 16, 2026 at 6:32 am

    A favorite old story of mine … that strikes home all to clearly in these days.

    Reply
  17. Dede says:
    March 16, 2026 at 9:02 am

    These are some words from an old Rich Mullins song.

    Faith comes from God and every word that He breathes
    He lets you take it to your heart, so you can give it hands and feet
    It’s gotta be active if it’s gonna be alive
    You gotta put it into practice

    Otherwise, it’s about as useless as a screen door on a submarine

    And I heard Amy Grant say once that you may be the only opportunity for someone to see Jesus.

    And I think periodically about the song and her statement. While some may say I have a heavenly aura, I know my actions speak louder than words. People will only see Jesus through my actions.

    Reply
  18. Eileen Norman says:
    March 16, 2026 at 1:13 pm

    Faith is a gift. I’ve found it shows up at different points in our lives because of our different personalities. A very wise older priest once said, “I always wondered why we didn’t hear more about Thomas’s twin. Then I realized the twin to doubting Thomas is in us.” I’ve had miracles and witnessed others having them. Now at almost 89 with Alzheimer’s, I have reached a point in my personal growth journey where I live in the present moment. It’s a new stage of my journey and I’m grateful that it’s playing out this way. My natural way of starting out being in the world focused on possibilities both good and bad, would have made me a basket case at this point. And yes I do have dark nights, but then comes the morning with grace to live in the moment and delight in the beauty and love in my life. And one of the gifts I am grateful for is that I have people like you in my life who share their journey which brings grace to mine.

    Reply
  19. Anna Waldherr says:
    March 16, 2026 at 4:27 pm

    Sadly, confusion over this issue has created multiple Christian denominations.

    Reply
  20. tulacelinastonebridge says:
    March 17, 2026 at 4:41 am

    Bravo, little boy with the umbrella! That made me laugh. Yes, that’s how it’s done.
    Jesus taught and acted. He healed, spread God’s Word—which he received directly from God—cast out evil spirits, raised the dead, walked on water, and fed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and fish. He could walk through the crowds without them being able to harm him. His word was powerful, and people feared him.

    The apostles and disciples also sought these gifts from God.
    Personally, I miss these works in today’s world. Jesus knew: Faith without God’s works is difficult. People must feel God’s work in themselves.

    If praying for rain never worked, people would stop praying.

    Thank you very much for your wonderful article and for giving me food for thought.

    Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

    Reply
  22. mtetar says:
    March 18, 2026 at 1:35 pm

    The substance of things hoped for, the evidence not seen is Faith. Blessings always everyone, Mtetar at basicissimple (Formerly projectsbymtetar on WordPress).

    Reply
  23. Dawn Pisturino says:
    March 18, 2026 at 4:36 pm

    Wonderful story!

    Reply
  24. Shalini says:
    March 18, 2026 at 10:17 pm

    Such a beautiful anecdote. 🙂

    Reply
  25. pcviii03 says:
    March 21, 2026 at 9:39 am

    A child shall lead them.

    Reply

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