Description

Definition
Faith is simply the ability to trust, to have confidence, and believe. Everyone has some level of faith in God, in people or in some force or principle. In contrast, the aptitude of faith is an extraordinary ability to exercise trust and confidence in virtually any situation, for yourself and for others.
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. . . . to another faith by the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:7-9). This text reveals two important points about the aptitude of faith: it originates with the spirit and it is for the common good rather than personal benefit.
At least three types of faith exist: general faith, faith as a character trait, and the aptitude of faith. The most common form is a general faith that everyone possesses and uses for daily needs such as sitting in a chair. If the chair appears to meet your criteria for a safe chair, you exercise faith and sit on it without first testing it to see whether it will hold you. This basic confidence or trust probably comes from dependable patterns in life: the sun coming up each morning, parents who care for you, chairs that don’t fall down when you sit in them, and so on. General faith is all you need to believe in God’s existence and love for you.
Another type of faith is the character trait, an attribute of faithfulness and trustworthiness. It is a dual attribute that involves both faith (trust, belief) and faithfulness (trustworthiness, believability), both conviction and resulting behavior. Many versions of the New Testament translate the key Greek noun as both “faith” and “faithfulness,” depending on the context; that is, the New Testament makes no distinction between faith and faithfulness. Even nonbelievers can exercise this kind of trust and be trustworthy because of their convictions or standards.
All Christians, however, should develop the godly character trait of faith or faithfulness (a fruit of the spirit, see Gal. 5:22). Like all godly traits, this surpasses human ability, though you develop it by nurturing and exercising it like a muscle. As you become increasingly like Jesus, you may have this faith or faithfulness in certain areas of life but not all, or it may vary from one situation to another. As you continue to mature, your character trait of faith/faithfulness will become stronger and more consistent.
The third kind of faith is the aptitude listed in First Corinthians 12:9, quoted earlier. If you have this “turbo-charged” faith, then faith will be characteristic of you. You are more likely to use faith in every area of life, for every situation, for others as well as yourself, and with superior results. While others are struggling to believe God is even aware of their situation, you know without a doubt that He is actively working for their benefit. In addition, your faith/faithfulness will cause you to stand firm, continuing to use it as a spiritual tool to create an environment for God to produce the results they need.
You are consistently faithful, acting on what you believe and encouraging others to do the same. You have unlimited confidence in God–His nature, His will, His ability, His faithfulness. You are an optimist. Others have moments of faith, but yours is steady and defines your character. You will have your moments, when God gives you a surge of supernatural faith for a particular need, and then you will return to your normal strong faith.
You believe everything will work out and you can overcome risks, so you are bold. Faith is only necessary when failure is possible, but when faith is your motivation, no risk is too big. For the same reason, you are likely to be very decisive; once you know God’s will, you have no problem accepting it and building your plans on it.
You move forward in spite of opposition or obstacles, and when faced with a problem you will take on the challenge with perseverance. That is, faith/faithfulness is your motivation rather than combativeness. When others face a problem, your faith/faithfulness responds by encouraging them to believe and act on what they believe.

Typical Characteristics
● Consistently move forward with optimism in spite of opposition or obstacles.
● Consistently act on what you believe, and encourage others to do so.
● Have an unshakable confidence in God and trust Him even in “impossible” situations.

Tendencies
● Perspective: Most people with this aptitude will have a positive perspective, but a few may be negative, as explained below.
● Positive. You are optimistic and confident. When God speaks to you, you have a sense of what He is about to do, or you see the potential for good, you have an unshakable confidence, and you act accordingly.
● Negative. You may have more faith in evil than good or focus on the potential for harm, resulting in general pessimism or fearfulness. You can overcome negative faith by changing the way you think. Negative faith is different from an absence of faith, which you overcome by developing faith.
● Issue Perception: objective. You know God is the answer, despite any subjective feelings or perspective.
● Orderliness: flexible. You probably accept change quickly, and are always willing to accept what God will do.

Misunderstandings
People who are very rational in their thinking may view you as naive, willing to take on a task in spite of obvious problems and believing that somehow everything will work out. They might misinterpret your faith as indifference to other people’s perspectives and opinions; that is, their lack of faith.

Vocations and Roles
Rallying, motivating, and encouraging people.

Perversions

Self-Centeredness
(Perverts your aptitude by focusing it on you, emphasizing the pleasure or fulfillment it gives you.)
As with all spiritual aptitudes, you can view faith as your own ability, which you use at your own discretion. This could cause you to be confident in your own ability to overcome obstacles. Self-centeredness might encourage you to take on tasks most people would avoid, simply for the pleasure that success would give you.

Extremes
(Perverts by exaggerating, taking your characteristics and tendencies to extremes.)
You might take unreasonable or even foolish risks simply for the thrill, confident everything will be okay in spite of the danger. You can become naive or gullible, unconcerned about potential problems. At times, God may create circumstances to stop your self-confident efforts, but you might only view them as more obstacles to overcome. In the extreme, your faith may cause you to be intensely self-willed, believing you can make anything you want to happen.

Control
(Self-centeredness makes you want to be in control, and you struggle for control in a way that is unique to your character.)
You would feel a need to take control if others are not exercising enough faith; that is, as much as you would. You might try manipulating people, either by smiling and encouraging them or being more forceful about it but trying to make them do what you think they should.

Redemption

Putting on Important Traits
Certain godly character traits are especially important to you as a faith-giver. Consciously developing the following traits will help you exercise your faith for the advancement of God’s kingdom, which includes imparting faith to others.

● Humility (Considers self relatively unimportant compared to others; prevents using abilities for one’s own satisfaction.) Humility prevents you from accepting responsibility for results or seeking the thrill of “success.” It also causes you to have faith in God’s ability to produce the needed results rather than your ability to have faith.
● Agape (Considers others’ welfare, needs, interests, and desires more important than your own; motivates you to act for others’ benefit regardless of personal impact.) Agape enables you to use your faith for the common good; that is, for the benefit of others.
● Joy (A sense of well-being, often despite circumstances; may be expressed as happiness, confidence, or optimism.) This is characteristic of the aptitude of faith and may even be an essential element of faith, causing you to anticipate the desired results.
● Zeal (Intense eagerness to experience a desired result; intense emotion that compels action.) You will be eager to see God’s will done and zeal provides much of the emotional energy you need to act in faith.

Repentance, Renewing Your Mind
(The changes you need to make in the way you think, including your attitudes, standards, priorities, and perspective.)
You must view your role as creating an environment of faith in which God can produce the needed results. Promoting God’s will must be your top priority. You serve others by encouraging them to exercise faith, and by glorifying God and speaking the scriptures to them.

Denying and Humbling Yourself
(Rejecting your own desires and self-interests. Refusing to be motivated by desire for recognition or credit for the results.)
By considering yourself unimportant compared to God and others, you can reject every sinful desire for glory. You must completely reject self-confidence and self-determination. Be constantly alert to your tendency to accept any credit for the results.

Taking up Your Cross
(Accepting that which has potential for great harm, threatens to break you down, or reveals your inadequacies.)
You may experience severe crises in which your faith is completely inadequate, so you will remain aware of your dependence on God. Your faith must rest securely on nothing but His nature and will.

Following Jesus
(How you uniquely imitate Jesus by doing what He would in your situation.)
Jesus had complete integrity of faith; He never wavered in His confidence in the Father, nor was He ever unfaithful to His convictions. He consistently glorified the Father and stated repeatedly that He only did what He saw the Father doing. This is the pattern of faith/faithfulness you are to copy.

Becoming Like a Child
(Accepting what God gives you, believing what He tells you, trusting Him to take care of you, and simply doing what He says.)
You may trust God more easily than others do, but you still must cultivate an attitude of complete dependence on Him. The more you can do this voluntarily, the less He will put you in situations that demand it.