A Purified Faith

Byron is one of those people who rarely says much about what he’s really feeling. He’s kind, helpful, and easy to be around, but if you spend any time with him, you start to sense there’s a whole lot more going on beneath the surface. He keeps things close to the chest—especially his struggles. What most don’t realize is that Byron is a deeply ambitious man. He has high expectations for himself, and failure is something he just doesn’t know how to process. So instead of opening up, he stuffs it all down and keeps pushing. Byron thinks that his ambition is enough to open doors, but the reality is that even driven people need something deeper than ambition to carry them. What he needs is a purified faith. We must be clear that life is going to expose our limits, but a faith that’s been tested and refined by hardship can teach us how to stand when ambition falls short.

Like many believers, Byron has been on this spiritual journey in Christ for a while, and he believes that when things do not turn out the way he expects, he needs to chase even harder. He’s done this his whole adult life. Instead of trusting God deeper, he applies more effort, but the weight of unmet expectations is starting to crush him. He’s internalizing failures, and instead of growing in faith, he’s beginning to regress. He’s feeling stuck, and there’s very little in life more frustrating than that.

We want our Heavenly Father to be pleased—with our lives, our choices, and most of all, our faith. But let’s be honest: in today’s world, there are many who call themselves believers, yet they’re not Spirit-filled. It’s not enough to just have the title of “Christian”—we need to be sure that we are truly saved, that the Holy Spirit is alive and active in us, and that we are producing fruit that proves it. To walk this walk for real, we need a purified faith.

Real Faith

Jesus made it plain in Mark 11:22–24 (NLT): “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.”

That’s real faith. That’s purified faith. It's the kind of belief that keeps holding on—even when life looks nothing like the promise. It's the kind of faith that forgives, trusts, and doesn’t waver. It believes before seeing. Ambition, drive, and aspiring towards goals in life is wonderful, but true faith is when our desires line up with God’s Will and plan for our lives. This is often a process. We spend a great deal of time pursuing other things when we should be pursuing God and His Will for us. We have our own agendas, and sometimes our motives have very little to do with our purpose. When this is the case, a shift is necessary.

The Refining Work of the Holy Spirit

This shift doesn’t come by force, as some might think. It comes by surrender. The Holy Spirit begins to uncover the motives we didn’t realize were driving us, exposing the areas where our faith has been built on personal ambition rather than God's purpose. It’s a loving confrontation that invites us to release what we thought we needed, so we can receive what God actually planned. The purification process can be uncomfortable, even painful, but it’s holy ground. It’s where faith matures. It’s where we stop chasing outcomes and start doing everything that we can to please God with our whole hearts. And in this place, God can do something powerful: He shapes a faith that won’t fold under pressure, a faith that can be trusted with more.

1 Peter 1:6-9(NLT) tells us, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. When your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”

Purified faith keeps showing up, even when our hands are trembling hands and we’ve still got lots of unanswered questions. It’s purified through trials. It’s a faith that seeks God wholeheartedly, and that believes in His ability to do more than we can ask or think. This is what pleases God.

It’s a day-by-day decision to trust God more than we trust ourselves. And as we surrender to His refining process, He starts building something solid in us—a faith that can stand in the middle of the storm, carry His assignment, and reflect His heart. Philippians 1:6 (NLT) assures us, ““And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” This verse makes it clear that we’re not doing this alone. Our Heavenly Father is committed to help us grow and increase in faith. He started this work, and He’s the One who will complete it.

It’s not always the kind of faith that puts on a show that God is after, but the kind that’s real. The kind that endures, obeys His Word, and that says yes to His Will, even when we don’t understand the path. This is the faith that leads us into His joy, the joy that only comes from walking in the purpose He has for us. He’s not just watching us walk this out—He’s walking with us, shaping our faith, and making sure we finish strong. ■

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

“A Purified Faith”, written for victoryinjesuschrist.life. Copyright© 2025. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.