A faith, pure as gold.

In a world where appearances are more important than substance, even the intangible things have lost their substance. I want to have a faith that is pure gold, with neither dross or alloy core. My faith should be immutable to the storms of life, worth its weight wherever I go, and rooted in my Lord Jesus Christ.

I've seen a world in which faith is rewarded without testing. It was a good and beautiful world, but I balked at its inherent corruptability. Faith not tested by trials is like gold not tested by a blazing fire. No one can look at a block of gold and tell if it's pure gold or just gold-plated. The surest way is by melting it down with a hot fire, and seeing what comes out of it - pure shimmering liquid gold or an impure mixture of gold and what not. Therefore, since I have had "encouragement from being united with Christ", "comfort from His love", "community in the Spirit", "affection and sympathy" (Phil 2:1), I'll live a life exhorting believers to stand firm in trials and troubles, for "our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Cor 4:17)