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January 26, 2023
Launching into the written word with God’s help
January 26, 2023

Lukewarm faith

By Daniel Francis

Have you ever found yourself zoning out during the readings in Mass? I remember as a child I was not always enthusiastic about coming to church. I would often find myself dozing off, especially during the homily.

As I grew older and had a better understanding of the different aspects of the Mass and their importance, I found myself more involved during the Mass.

Yet, there was a point in my life where I would almost completely zone out during the readings, and I have recognised this is not something that I alone experienced.

As I was writing this, Revelation 3:15–16 came to me: “I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” This got me thinking.

Now in the olden days, room temperature or lukewarm water was considered suspicious or dangerous. Cold water was seen to have come from a spring. Hot water was considered boiled and therefore clean. Anything in between was seen as suspicious and I’m drawing this same parallel to our faith.

When you have a boiling hot intensity with spiritual matters you are very deeply involved and committed to your faith. When you are cold in spiritual matters you at least know that you have to grow, and you are in a position to be more deeply impacted by faith.

When you are in between hot and cold, you know enough to fear and respect God but are rarely moved or impacted enough by faith to be fully engaged whether in church or your day-to-day activities.

Lukewarm faith is a dangerous phase to live in and I would argue that too many of us exist in this state currently.

Truth and in fact, when you exist in this lukewarm state you are living life on your terms. You are aiming for an average spiritual life: accepting the bare minimum knowledge you have and accepting the average amount of effort you put in when it comes to your spiritual life.

This is a selfish way to live because you are not living your life on God’s terms. He does not want us to live in a space of in-between. He wants us to have that hot intensity towards our faith and share that devotion to faith with those around us. We cannot do this if we are stuck in a state of lukewarm faith.

So, what do you do if you find yourself having lukewarm faith? It starts by rekindling that curiosity toward God and His Word. Be more involved in learning about your faith, the Church, the Bible, God, etc. Make all of this a priority as opposed to just going with the flow. You will find that you may be excited to learn and that the faith inside you is rekindled just by the simple act of, for example, being active in Mass.

I’ve mentioned before that spirituality is an area of life just like all the other areas of life. Which means it must be nurtured for it to grow. Give that area of life its needed attention and time to grow and develop by being active. Let us not stay lukewarm in our faith.

 

Daniel Francis is a millennial helping other millennials. He is a two-time author of the books The Millennial Mind and The Millennial Experience, and an entrepreneur. Over the past four years, he has served as a Personal Development Coach whose work targets Millennials and helps them tap into their full potential. He is also a Self-publishing coach and has guided hundreds on self-publishing their book successfully.

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Email: themillennialmind2020@gmail.com

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