Build Your Faith on a Solid Foundation

WHEN you studied the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, what convinced you that you had found the “one faith”—the one acceptable way of worship that God approves? (Eph. 4:4-6) Were you drawn to Jehovah’s people because of the love you observed among them? Did their upright conduct make a favorable impression on you? Many are attracted to the truth because God’s organization makes them feel safe and genuinely loved, and that is understandable. Love and good conduct are identifying marks of true worship.—John 13:35; 1 Pet. 2:12.

But what if a fellow believer offends you or in some other way fails to show you love? Or what if a fellow believer gets involved in serious sin—even scandalous conduct, as occurred with an individual in the first-century congregation in Corinth? (1 Cor. 5:1) If your faith depends solely on how the actions of others make you feel, it is resting on a shaky foundation. Is there a more stable foundation for your faith?

A STABLE FOUNDATION FOR FAITH

You can build a strong foundation for your faith by deepening your conviction in the basic truths you have learned from the Bible. How can that help? Consider an example.

On one occasion, many of Jesus’ disciples left him. They had stumbled over his statement about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. They said: “This speech is shocking.” What Jesus said disturbed them so much that they stopped following him.—John 6:56-60, 66.

Afterward, Jesus asked his apostles: “You do not want to go also, do you?” Peter replied: “Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life. We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.”—John 6:67-69.

What made Peter and the other apostles different from those who had stumbled? Their faith was founded on something more solid than their feelings. Peter said: “We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.” These faithful ones knew what they believed and why they believed it. Having compared Jesus’ words and actions with what they knew of the Scriptures, they were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. Their strong conviction in this basic truth stabilized their faith when others were stumbled by what Jesus said.

What does that account teach us? What we know can be more powerful than how we feel. Why? Because Bible doctrines—including the truths we have learned about God’s name, his purpose, and the ransom—remain constant. Unlike our feelings, Bible truths are not affected by what people do or say. Therefore, if we are convinced of Bible truths and we connect these truths with the channel Jehovah is using, we can avoid being stumbled by the behavior of others.

The same sister is surprised when she overhears two sisters gossiping. — If our faith depends solely on how the actions of others make us feel, it is resting on a shaky foundation

Granted, we feel encouraged by the love of the brotherhood. And we feel uplifted by the good conduct of our fellow believers. But if those feelings should ever start to waver because of the actions of others, then our conviction in Bible truths can stabilize our faith. It will help us recognize that we are in the right organization—regardless of the actions of a few individuals.

When we have a good routine of personal Bible study, we strengthen our conviction in the truths we have learned from God’s Word. That conviction, in turn, will help us remain convinced that we have found the one way of worship that God approves. Then our faith will rest on a solid foundation and will not be shaken by the words or actions of others.—Ps. 16:8; see the box “Stay on the Right Road.”

Stay on the Right Road

Imagine that you have boarded a bus that will travel hundreds of miles to a beautiful destination. During that long trip, you will probably experience a wide range of feelings—mostly joy at the fact that you are on the journey.

While on this trip, though, there could be some things that will make you feel upset—perhaps a loud conversation between two passengers or even the rudeness of the driver. But none of that changes the fact that you are on the right bus and that you need to stay on it to get to your destination.

On our journey to God’s new world, we will experience a wide range of feelings—mostly joy at the privilege of being part of God’s organization. At times, though, we might feel offended by a fellow believer or even shocked by the wrongdoing of someone we looked up to. But none of that changes the fact that we are on the right bus, so to speak. We are in the right organization. If we have a thorough knowledge of basic Bible truths—and appreciate the source from which we learned those truths—we will stay on the right road. Our faith will remain stable.