A member of an online SFG group was confused about the relationship between faith and action. He wrote: “I read that the more you act on faith and on your ideals, the more faith you will have. But that seems backwards to me - I always thought that you have faith first and then you act on your faith…. Today must be my Doubting Thomas day.”
My reply noted that when it comes to acting on faith – yes, you do have faith and then act on it. But sometimes faith is meager. So you can have a little faith and a lot of doubt too. We are all complex beings. The point is that by using what you have in hand, little though it may be, more is given. This applies as a general principle that includes faith. So you can be a Doubting Thomas with only a little faith and still put it to good use and it will grow.
Clearly, this lesson on Faith is an extension of the previous one on Ideals. "Spirit is the life, mind is the builder, and physical is the result."
Thus to do the ideals exercise is in itself an act of faith – faith in the unseen forces of spirit as the basis for life. Bringing mind and body into attunement with spirit and then living all aspects of your life from this template of spiritual/mental/physical ideals is faith in action. It's a matter of trusting that if you orient your life based on a spiritual ideal, and make everything in your life flow from that spiritual ideal, life will be optimal for you and others with whom you interact. To be sure, this is contrary to the materialistic view of life based on "survival of the fittest" and "look out for number 1."
It is easy to think about faith as a concept and keep it at the mental level as a generality. Then the mind can easily become filled with doubt. By putting faith into action as an expression of a spiritual ideal, it becomes concrete and specific – more real.
Look at areas of your life where you can work with faith – even if it is only a little and you have a lot of doubt. Whether the financial exercise that is part of this lesson or some area of interpersonal relationships perhaps. Then test your ideal. Put it into action and see what comes of it in your life. Trust in the unseen forces of spirit to help you create an ideal-based life. That is faith in action. And if you still have some doubts, that is ok too. - Dave